Boss Mick McCarthy will be looking for his Town side to emulate some of his previous clubs in 2015/16 by bouncing back from play-off disappointment to subsequent success.
Town’s promotion push was halted by Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Norwich, the Canaries claiming a place at Monday’s Wembley final where they will meet Middlesbrough.
"The play-offs haven’t been kind to me,” McCarthy admitted following Saturday’s match. "But generally when I’ve lost in the play-offs I’ve won the Championship the following year or qualified for a World Cup, so it’s kind of been good to me. Maybe people should remember that.”
The two-legged tie against Norwich was McCarthy’s seventh as a manager at Championship or international level.
His one success was the victory over Iran when he was in charge of the Republic of Ireland which saw his side to the 2002 World Cup finals. That qualification followed play-off defeats to Belgium for a place at the 1998 tournament and Turkey for a spot at Euro 2000.
Domestically, McCarthy’s Millwall team lost to Derby in the play-off semi-final at what’s now Championship level in 1993/94 but failed to replicate that success the next year when they finished 12th
In 2003/04 his Sunderland team finished third and lost in the play-off semi-final to Crystal Palace on penalties but came back to win the division by seven points the next year.
McCarthy’s Wolves team were fifth in 2006/07 when they were defeated in the play-off semi-finals by their biggest rivals West Brom and after finishing seventh the following season won the Championship in 2008/09 by seven points.
The Town boss says once the sting of Saturday’s defeat is less raw he’ll look back on the campaign with a sense of achievement.
"It’s not a time for reflection. I’m not sat here thinking ‘I can’t wait to come back on July 1st’, I’m thinking ‘I can’t wait to go on holiday’,” he admitted.
"But when I do reflect it’ll be one of pride and that we’ve got a good squad of players coming back.”
Meanwhile, Blackburn have confirmed the release of striker Luke Varney, who ended the season on loan with the Blues.
The 32-year-old suffered a ruptured achilles in the first leg of the play-off semi-final and faces at least six months on the sidelines with Town having offered him the chance to undergo his rehab at Playford Road.