Kieffer Moore is excited about the next nine days that will see Town travel to Hull and Coventry in search of precious points before the season ends on Saturday week with Huddersfield the visitors on a day that could, depending on what happens between now and then, see the Blues hosting a second successive Portman Road promotion party.

After arriving from Bournemouth in January to plug the gap caused by injury to striker George Hirst, Moore reflected on his loan period so far and said: “It’s been unbelievable. It’s such a tough league, so for the lads who came up from League One last season to find themselves in the position they are in now is a huge, huge credit to all of them.

“This league can destroy the best of teams at the best of times, so for us to be in this situation with just three games to go is unbelievable.

“It’s amazing and I can’t wait. It’s three massive games, starting with Hull on Saturday. They are a very good side with a lot of very good individual players. It’s not going to be an easy game, obviously, because we’re going away from home but it’s one we will be looking to win, definitely.”

While promotion rivals Leicester, Leeds and Southampton have all been in action recently, Town have enjoyed a break from action with the postponement of their scheduled visit to Coventry, who were instead in action last weekend against Manchester United in an eventful FA Cup semi-final.

Moore believes the break will have helped him and his colleagues as they face a hectic spell of three games in eight days that will decide their fate. “We’ve had a great training week,” he reported.

“The lads with little niggles and problems have managed to fix them, so everyone has trained really well this week. It’s been great working with Kieran McKenna since I came back on loan. He’s an unbelievable manager. His attention to detail is second to none and while training is tough, it’s also good – as it should be.

“I wasn’t surprised when I heard he had won the EFL Championship Manager of the Season award. It’s not just his attention to detail, it’s everything he does and you can see it in the way he delivers presentations and training sessions. It’s the way he goes about his day-to-day business, top-notch, and I can see him going on to have an amazing career.”

Moore continued to praise McKenna, adding: “The gaffer has helped me massively. He has told me my role in the team and what he expects from me, and we’ve talked about the positions I like to take up alongside doing what I like to do in games.

“We’ve done it so we can get the best of both worlds. It’s gone really well so far and long may that continue.”

The loan switch to Town has allowed Moore to team up again with Welsh international colleagues Nathan Broadhead and Wes Burns, although the latter has been absent through injury recently, and he said: “Having that connection with the players around me always helps.”

Asked for his views on another teammate, striker Ali Al-Hamadi, Moore continued: “I would say that in the short space of time since he was signed from Wimbledon he has come on in leaps and bounds. I started in non-league and as you make your way up the system the finer details matter.

“When you get to the point where you are jumping up the leagues, I think it’s important that you nail down on the final details and Ali is doing a great job doing that.”

The news that both Burns and Hirst are likely to be included in McKenna’s squad to head for Humberside is a further boost to Town’s promotion chances and Moore added: “George is a great striker and he’s had a good training week, so let’s see what happens. The break we’ve had couldn’t have come at a better time for everyone. We can take stock of what we’ve done and move on from here.”

The Championship is known to be a demanding league, while Moore was also involved in Wales’ Euro 24 play-off clashes against Finland and Poland in Cardiff last month, which proved to be a draining experience for him and his international colleagues as their qualifying hopes were dashed by the Poles’ penalty shootout victory.

Within days he was back with Town and heading for Blackburn, where he played for over an hour in a game decided by Conor Chaplin’s early goal. “It was tough, both emotionally and physically, but I always like to separate the international side and my club side, all the time,” said Moore.

“In my mind the team always comes first so I made myself available if the team needed me. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t found it tough, physically, but at this stage of the season there’s no point in sitting on the side. You need to do everything you can to make yourself available for every game.”

Photo: TWTD

oldbri added 20:33 - Apr 25 We want Moore of Kieffer.
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FrankMarshall added 21:39 - Apr 25 Vital player in the next three fixtures
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cressi added 08:08 - Apr 26 Moore started brightly here but the last few weeks he has been poor, maybe due to amount of games in a few weeks injuries and mental fatigue. But now is the time to deliver its make or break time so kieffer you need to get back on it.
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ChorleyBoy added 10:12 - Apr 26 Moore goals on Saturday for sure.
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MK1 added 15:33 - Apr 26 Hopefully the rest will have done him and others some good. Pretty sure he came back from the Wales game with a knock. We will need them all to be back to their best for at least 2 of the 3 games left.
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