Blues boss Mick McCarthy says the play-offs will once again be Town’s realistic target during 2016/17. The squad returned to Playford Road on Monday for the start of pre-season training.
"As always I think we’ve got to finish as best we can,” he said. "We slipped last year, in finishing seventh.
"We’d always made an improvement [year on year], so we’re going to try and make an improvement on our position from last season.”
He added: "But at the end of it we finished exactly the same [as the previous year when Town were sixth] because we’re still in this league.
"We finished in the play-offs the year before but we were still in this league. We had the excitement of the play-offs and the disappointment of the play-offs. Sadly we didn’t get there this year.
"First or second is pretty unlikely with the amount of money that will be swilling around in the league, what people have to spend and money available to some of the teams. I think if we can finish in the top six we’ll be doing well. That’s what we’ll be going for.”
How will he and his staff go about achieving that? "Starting here [in pre-season], making sure they’ve all come back fit, which they have.
"Getting them prepared, being as well-organised as we always are, being as hard-working as we always are. Having a really good team spirit and enduring 46 games in the Championship, which isn’t easy.”
He says the division will again be tough with Newcastle and Aston Villa having been relegated from the Premier League, along with the Blues’ greatest rivals Norwich City.
"That’s going to be interesting, it always makes it that way,” he said. "We play them early again. Aston Villa have come down, Newcastle have come down, they’ve all come down with a chunk of money.
"Derby spent a lot of money last year and missed out. Brighton are a very good side. There are some good teams in the league, there are some teams who are going to spend money and we’ll be the ones that are trying to upset the apple cart as always, and I’m sure we’ll manage to do it.”
Newcastle are managed by Rafa Benitez and Villa by Roberto Di Matteo, both bosses who have won the Champions League, however, McCarthy says success at higher levels is no guarantee that managers are able to be successful in the Championship.
"You might find that if I manage a Champions League team I might do all right,” he said. "They might find it a bit of a shock unless they get a bit of advice. You can watch it all you like.
"I was told a story about a foreign manager, I’m not going to say who it was, who was in the Premier League and was watching a Championship game and went, ‘What is this?’ and turned it off.
"And then he ended up in the Championship and suddenly found out what it was. It’s a tough old league and if you think you’re just going to come in and get through it, you’re not.
"Just because you’ve got money, because you’ve got a big squad, because you’ve got a team, it doesn’t always work like that.”
Is he confident his squad, which will again be assembled on a shoestring compared with many of the teams they will face, will be capable of competing?
"Yes, we will again because we’ve got good players, we’ve got really good pros, who care about the place, care about the club and we’ve a good team spirit,” he added.
"We’ll be organised, we’ll be a team. That’s been emphasised so much in the European Championships this year.
"And we’ll try and find a sprinkling of magic dust. We’ve got Bish coming back, we’ve got Andre Dozzell coming into the squad, he’ll be in the first-team squad, both of whom bring real creativity. Let’s hope Didzy stays fit, Murph stays fit and if they do we’ve got a good side.”