Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna says his side are going to have to show 'real mental strength' at Arsenal tonight (8.15pm, Amazon Prime).

The Blues head to the title challengers off the back of a 4-0 home thrashing at the hands of Newcastle United last Saturday.

“We have some comparisons to last year in that we lost convincingly at Leeds (4-0 just before Christmas).

"The group had to stick together, had to stay strong, had to stay positive. A few days later we played Leicester and we managed to find a really good response (scoring a late goal to draw 1-1).

“Of course we were very, very disappointed after Saturday, but it’s now full eyes to a great next game. Arsenal on a Friday night at the Emirates is another fantastic one in the journey of this group of players and for the club.

Town are looking to bounce back from a heavy defeat at Arsenal (Image: Ross Halls) "We’re going to have to show a real mental strength. It’s a chance to show our togetherness, our spirit, our resilience. Our organisation is going to have to be really, really good and we’re going to have to show bravery at certain moments to take them on in the way we want to.

"The characteristics we’re going to have to show are really clear. It’s a challenge we’ve got to rise to and take head on."

After tonight's tough test, Town return to Portman Road to take on another team in title contention in the form of Chelsea (Monday, 7.45pm).

“We’ve been to Tottenham, we’ve been to Man City. We’ve had big games against big clubs. This is another one," said McKenna.

“No-one expects you to be competitive in these games. It’s up to us as a staff to come up with a game plan that gives us a chance to be competitive, to convince the players of that, then for the players to try and deliver in a game we’re going to be big, big underdogs in.

"It’s about going into it with enough humility to know what the game’s going to look like, but also enough confidence and belief we can get a result."