Kieran McKenna steps down as Ipswich manager ‘with great pride’ to take break

• Manager keen to spend more time with family

• Ipswich chair Mark Ashton ‘gutted’ by decision

Kieran McKenna has stepped down as Ipswich’s manager after four and a half years in charge of the Suffolk club, who will return to the Premier League next season.

The 40-year-old will take a break from management and is understood not to have a position lined up. McKenna had been linked with the vacant job at Fulham, who held an interest in him, but his departure is linked with a desire to recharge and spend more time with his family.