Midfielder Luke Hyam has joined the dressing room chorus that better times are ahead for Town next season.
Players, like many supporters, have been encouraged by the scale of improvement since Mick McCarthy took over from Paul Jewell that they are convinced there will be no repeat of the struggle to survive that has headlined the current campaign.
Hyam admitted: "It was a relief to finally secure our Championship status after an anxious few months. After the start we had to the season I think the best possible outcome was to stay in this league.
"We’ve been on a good run of form recently and if the season was to carry on I think we could have been talking about the play-offs. But first and foremost it was about making sure we stayed in the Championship and we’re looking forward to the new season with confidence.
"It’s been a tough few months but you get used to it because it’s all part of the job. I think all the lads have worked hard and pulled together. There’s a terrific team spirit here and I think we’ve done really well the way we have finished the season.”
Things looked bleak when McCarthy inherited a team bottom of the table with just seven points from the first 13 league games but the turnaround in fortune means Town travel to Burnley this afternoon for the final game of the season having banked a respectable 60 points.
Hyam added: "You don’t want relegation on your CV and we’ve done well to get out of trouble. We had been playing fairly well and then against Birmingham last Saturday I thought it was the best game we had played in weeks, possibly even our best of the season.
"There was no pressure on us and although we had to go long at times I also thought we passed it around quite well when we did. We definitely played better as a result of not having any pressure on us and it will be the same at Burnley.
"We are all keen to end the season on a high note by taking all three points. You could say neither team has anything to play for, in terms of picking up points to make sure they stay up, but I am sure the manager will want every single player to put in 110 per cent effort.
"I’m sure we will do that and try to make sure we finish the season well. Every one of us will put in a shift and at the end of the day it’s also about impressing the manager for next season.
"The team spirit right now is the best since I’ve been here. All the lads get on well with each other and apart from hitting it off in the dressing room and out on the pitch they also hang around together away from football.
"I think it is looking very good for next season. You strive to have a settled team and we have that now. If we add two or three new players I am pretty sure that we could do really well.”