Boss Mick McCarthy believes Saturday’s opponents Burnley have thoroughly deserved their promotion to the Premier League.
The side managed by Sean Dyche — whose first-team coach is Tony Loughlan, who occupied a similar role at Town under Roy Keane — confirmed their second place in the Championship by beating Wigan 2-0 at home on Monday.
"Good luck to them, he’s been great Dychey, and the players,” McCarthy said. "There are a lot of lads I had there. Michael Kightly scored the winner on Monday, I signed him.
"Dave Jones, I had him at Wolves, there are a few of them. Jason Shackell played with us at Wolves as well.
"They’ve been excellent, they’ve been outstanding and thoroughly deserve it. They’ve stuck with it. Most people, me included earlier on, wondered if they’d continue with just that small squad, but they’ve been fantastic. It’s a great achievement for them.”
But he says won’t be dispatching any bubbly up to Turf Moor for their celebrations: "Will I bollocks! I won’t be sending any Champagne because they won’t be drinking it on Friday night, will they?
"Saturday’s their last home game, so they’ll want to finish on a flourish, they won’t want to get beaten.
"It’s up to us to be prepared and for both teams to be professional and we’ve got to try and win it. It’ll be a hard one for us."