Ipswich Town’s unity and togetherness will stand them in good stead going into next season, according to Blues striker George Hirst.
With Town now all but relegated to the Championship following Sunday’s 4-0 home defeat to Arsenal, the Blues will head back to the second tier alongside fellow newly-promoted sides Leicester City and Southampton.
Out of the trio, Kieran McKenna’s side will go down with the highest morale and Hirst believes that positive energy will allow Town to continue to prosper in the future.
"It always has been ever since I’ve been at the club,” he said when asked about the strength of the group. "That’s been something that’s never swayed, not once. That’s something that will continue to be there long past me being here.
"It’s what the club’s built with the boss, Mark Ashton and co upstairs. That’s something that’s in the roots of the football club now, we pride ourselves on, we’re the ones with the badge that get to go out there and fulfil that and it will be something that continues for years to come.
"No-one is worried or stressed, ultimately we’re not going to achieve the goal that we set out, but there’ll be a lot of lessons learnt and we’ll be in a better position for it next season.”
Town will likely see their fate confirmed on Saturday when they travel to face Newcastle United, with the Blues needing to beat the Magpies at St James’ Park and hope West Ham United lose at Brighton and Hove Albion to mathematically keep them alive.
Regardless of how the season will end, Hirst hopes the Blues can show what they are capable of in the north-east but dismissed suggestions that Town may now be able to play with more freedom.
He said: "It’s one to go and enjoy. There’s not many better away grounds to go and play at, so I’m told. It’s definitely one we’ll enjoy and prepare right. If we can be the team that goes and ruins other people’s seasons then so be it.
"I don’t think it’s freedom because if you start thinking you can play with freedom you can go and get beat 8-0. That’s just the level of opposition you’re playing against, you have to be right on it.
"It’s going to be a game plan, if that’s sitting behind the ball for 90 minutes against Newcastle then that’s the way we’re going to try and win the game.
"I don’t want to use the word freedom, we’re going to go and enjoy it and make the most of every opportunity we’ve got from now until the end of the season and try and nick as many points as we possibly can.
"It’s just about going out there, training every day, getting to the game and putting in the best version of ourselves.”
The run-in may give Town the opportunity to start building for life in the Championship next season while also ensuring the task at hand is attended to with 15 Premier League points still up for grabs.
"You could say that,” Hirst considered. "It’s of those things where you’re focusing on the here and now and taking each game as it comes. There’ll be bits we can learn that, come next season, we’ll probably look back on and take those experiences with us going forward.
"Every game from now until the end of the season is another learning opportunity, hopefully we can go and get some more points.”
While still featuring off the bench, the Blues’ 12-goal top scorer Liam Delap has not started either of the last two matches due to the in-demand frontman carrying a rib injury.
That has opened the door for Hirst to start back-to-back league matches for the first time this season having been picked to lead the line against Chelsea and in the clash with the Gunners.
The Scotland international has earned plenty of plaudits in doing so, playing his part in both Town goals at Stamford Bridge and making the most of a difficult task in Sunday’s defeat to Arsenal.
"I just work as hard as I can every day,” Hirst said. "When the opportunity comes, it’s up to me to be ready. I feel like I’ve not done myself a disservice over the last couple of games, it’s two really good teams we’ve played against and I’d like to think I’ve put myself about in a pretty decent manner.
"Hopefully it’s something I can continue, but it’s up to me working in training and seeing where we go.”