Forest are into the FA Cup quarterfinals after winning the penalty shootout following the score ending 1-1 after extra-time.
McKenna said, “I think we managed the game well. It’s a cup competition, so I don’t draw all the comparisons to the league, but I think, certainly against a very good team, we can be proud of the performance.
“We knew we had to manage moments in the game. They’re probably the fastest team in the Premier League, the team was so athletic that we were facing tonight, so we knew we couldn’t make the game end to end and 100 miles an hour from the first whistle because it would suit them too much on the transitions.
“First half, we tried to control the tempo of the game and slow the game down with the ball and manage the game with the ball, knowing that we could sort of push through the gears a little bit in the second half.
“And I thought we did that really well at the start of the second half, started to find the connections a lot quicker and cleaner and started to cut through them a few times as well.
“I think deserved to get a goal at that point, then we weren’t able to see the game out. They put a really good ball into the box.
“Then I thought in extra-time, both teams fought really well. There were lots of tired bodies on the pitch. I think having to make the two subs early in the game for two of your defenders is a big challenge, especially when they can bring on, I’m not sure if they did, but five pretty attacking players across the latter stages of the game and we’re two defenders down from earlier. That makes it a challenge in terms of the fresh legs needed to maybe go and win the game.
“But we still had one or two moments and we defended with a great resilience. There was lots in the game that the players will take belief and confidence from."