Town midfielder Jack Taylor has sung the praises of manager Kieran McKenna ahead of the Blues’ final two matches of the season this week.
McKenna, who recently won the Championship’s Manager of the Season award, has guided Town to within four points of back-to-back automatic promotions in his first two full seasons in senior management.
Taylor, who joined the club off the back of promotion from League One last term, believes the Northern Irishman’s calm persona is a huge part of the Blues’ success under his guidance, praising McKenna for his attitude every day in training and in every game he manages.
"He’s really calm and he doesn’t ever seem to be stressed,” Taylor said. "He’s been consistent with it throughout the whole season, whether it’s a cup game in midweek or a massive game on a Saturday. He always stays level and sticks to what he does and staying as calm as he wants.
"It works for some people but we have the squad and the personalities in the team to bounce off his talks. He gets us going when he needs to, especially before games we’re so prepared tactically and mentally ready for every game.
"He’s a winner deep down. Whether it’s a first round EFL Cup game, he wants to win every game. Every game that we attack he wants to win.”
The former Peterborough United midfielder says every day in training is beneficial for the whole squad, and acknowledged McKenna’s backroom staff for the hard work they put in alongside.
He said: "The impact he has day-to-day, you’re learning every day. That’s what you want as a footballer, you want to come in every day and enjoy yourself but you want to learn and take something out of every day.
"I feel like I am and positionally I’m trying to keep learning. There’s a long way to go, but massive credit to him and the staff behind him.
"They’ve all got the same messages and are all on the same page which helps everyone.”
The culture that has been set by the staff at Playford Road has been spoken about by almost every member of the squad, with Taylor highlighting the importance of the players’ attitudes with each other to strive to greater success.
"I feel like it’s easy to say but we take every game as it comes,” the 25-year-old said. "We don’t look beyond the game that’s coming up and in training each day we push each other so hard and the resilience in the squad.
"I’ve been in promoted sides before but there’s something special about this team. The first team ever to go back-to-back 90 points and it’s not a fluke which people were saying earlier on in the season.
"We’ve got such a strong squad, especially now we’ve got an almost fit squad going into the run-in which is rare. It’s a credit to everyone behind the scenes keeping the perfect training regime.”
He continued: "We’ve always got each other’s backs, everyone is going to make mistakes whether it leads to a goal or not.
"The first equaliser we conceded on Saturday [against Hull City] was how we wanted to play. If we get out of that situation there then we’ve broken the press and we’re attacking the back four.
"It’s football and these things happen, we recovered well and they didn’t get a spell after that so it shows the resilience in the squad and the dominance we have in games.”
One player who has certainly benefitted from McKenna’s management is Omari Hutchinson, who scored two stunning goals on Saturday to take his tally to 10 in his first season in senior football.
The 20-year-old marked his 50th senior appearance with his second brace for the club in the 3-3 draw with Hull City, a result that keeps automatic promotion firmly within Town’s own hands.
"He’s a really special player,” Taylor said of the Chelsea loanee. "I feel like the main thing about him is not just the on-the-ball stuff, but how he works so hard getting back helping the right-back is quite amazing.
"The other night he was special, everyone was watching him in awe from the bench. We were just saying when he’s like that you have to just keep giving him the ball and he’s going to create moments like he did the other night.”
Finally, Taylor was keen to stress the importance of the supporters, who have travelled thousands of miles across the country to follow the team away from home.
"Sometimes you can’t believe it,” Taylor quipped. "Whether you turn up at Plymouth or Middlesbrough, it’s sold out everywhere we go so credit to them.
"Sometimes we’ve not played as well as we’ve wanted to, but they’re a credit to themselves and hopefully we can repay them on Tuesday and especially on Saturday.”