Blues boss Kieran McKenna says he’s relishing the extra time he has with his players on the training ground with games far fewer in number in the Premier League than in League One or the Championship.
Town got used to two games a week in the divisions below but, having been jettisoned from the Carabao Cup on penalties by League Two AFC Wimbledon in round two, the Blues’ fixture list has been far quieter so far during 2024/25.
"We are really enjoying having more time with the group,” he said. "I have to say it is a bit different for me in my career, it is the first time as the Championship and League one schedule is very, very busy.
"At [Manchester] United a few years before that, we were always deep into Europe and cup competitions and it was always two games a week.
"So we are enjoying it and I think it is beneficial in many ways, especially with a group that are coming together with a lot of new players. We are trying to use the time as well as we can.
"As I said, it brings challenges. There are not as many minutes – by the time we finish on Saturday, that will be our fourth game in six weeks and then we will have two weeks without a game.
"So, with a fairly healthy squad, as we have at the minute, it is a challenge, not necessarily in terms of giving all the players minutes as they are working very well, but sometimes you can execute things in training and do the scenarios live as possible, however, you still need the feedback from matches to improve.
"We will take the feedback from each match and really maximise what we can do in training, but we don’t have as many matches as we would normally have.
"But in general, the time on the training pitch and the time to go into a little more detail is something we are all enjoying and has helped us in the last couple of weeks.”
Regarding working at Playford Road this week since the impressive 2-2 draw with Aston Villa last Sunday, he added: "Training has been good. Everyone enjoyed the game. We are still a group, and I am still a manager and same with our staff, who are used to winning a lot of games, so I don’t think we will ever be euphoric after a draw.
"But it was a very good game to be involved in – staff, players and supporters. It was a really good game against a fantastic side, as we saw last night [as Villa beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in the Champions League] and as they keep showing in every game they are involved in.
"To be as competitive as we were and to put in the performance we did in another exciting game at Portman Road, everyone enjoyed it.
"But we know the turnaround to West Ham is pretty quick. We went from an eight-day run-in to Aston Villa to six days. It’s not been hard to get the players to turn their attentions.
"We know it is another big game, a big challenge and another one to look forward to. We have had a good training week and we look forward to Saturday.”
Last week, defender Jacob Greaves was quizzed on what he’d ask McKenna if he had to ask him a question and said he’d grill his boss on whether there are more wheels or doors in the world, a viral social media query from a few months ago.
When Greaves’s question was put to him, McKenna’s natural inclination was to prepare properly and do some research before giving an analytical response.
"Can I Google? More doors or wheels,” he considered. "If the average house has maybe two cars, eight wheels, definitely has the eight doors the average house, I would imagine, so I’m going to go for a very general doors.”