Town’s surge towards the play-offs may be in stark contrast to last season’s relegation battle but Aaron Cresswell is not the least bit amazed by the transformation in fortune.
The 24-year-old Liverpudlian, nearing the end of his third season since arriving from Tranmere, said: "I’m not really surprised to be honest.
"When Mick came over on November 1st 2012 we were obviously bottom of the league but under him we were actually fifth or sixth in the form table.
"We have more or less carried that on into this season and have been just outside the play-offs nearly all season. We’ve been in the top six a couple of times as well so it’s no real surprise and with the gaffer his career speaks for itself.
"I don’t think we’ll have the biggest wage bill in the Championship but what we do have here is great teamwork and great team spirit around the place, and I think that gets you very far.”
Meanwhile, Cresswell believes Town’s run-in to the season represents the most important games of his career so far.
The defender added: "It’s a massive challenge for us with five games — five cup finals you could say — to play in order to make the play-offs. It means 15 points to play for and so as long as we are going into the last game still in contention we’ll take that.”
Saturday’s home clash with 19th-placed Doncaster, who need points for a very different reason, is a potential banana skin and Cresswell is adamant Town won’t make the mistake of underestimating the Yorkshire outfit.
He said: "You can sometimes look at games and think ‘They’ve got nothing to play for’. But anyone who knows the Championship knows it is impossible to predict a win.
"To even have a shout of making the play-offs and maybe getting into the Premiership means they are the biggest games of my career. Everyone is looking forward to it.
"The fans have been different class this season, even when we’ve been drawing and we’ve nicked a few late winners, like against Derby for instance. It would be nice if we could get another game like that.”