Liam Delap had Ipswich ahead before Ollie Watkins' equaliser, with Axel Tuanzebe being sent off for the Tractor Boys.
“It’s obvious to say, but the group has shown fantastic character there in difficult circumstances,” McKenna said.
“In the build-up to the game, Leif (Davis) pulled out late yesterday with a little issue, so you see people coming into the squad, Conor Townsend making his first Premier League start. Julio (Enciso), we had him have to go off early in the game.
“A really poor red card for me in terms of the first yellow card, for me not even a foul, let alone something that can be given a yellow card for, which puts us in a really difficult position with the 10 men.
“So to be where we were at half-time, to produce the organisation, the spirit, the resilience that we did in the second half, right through the squad with different players coming in having not been on the pitch as much, was a really good sign of the mentality of where the group’s at, the spirit within the group and the supporters were right behind it was well.”
Regarding Delap’s deftly taken strike, his third against Villa this season, he added: “A really good goal, you always hope that you’ll get a couple of moments. We said at half-time, we felt like we could win the game if we defended well because we knew we’d get one or two moments.
“You’re hoping you can find the ball to Omari (Hutchinson) in a one-v-one situation and if you create the chance you want it to go to Liam.
“To be fair, Ben (Johnson)’s hit a great switch out to Omari, he’s really good one-v-one to work the cross and good movement from Liam, and a different type of goal from him as well, in terms of getting across the man on a cross. Really good.”