Boss Kieran McKenna says the expectation on Town for the season ahead is very different from when they were in the Championship two years ago and sees similarities with the 2022/23 League One promotion season.
The Blues have been favourites to lift the Championship title in 2025/26 from virtually the moment their relegation from the Premier League was confirmed.
The bookies still have them top of their lists, ranking them at 3-1 with Southampton, who are at Portman Road next weekend, second-favourites at 11-2, Friday’s opponents Birmingham City at 7-1 following their promotion from League One in third and Sheffield United, third in the Championship last season before losing to Sunderland in the play-off final, fourth at 8-1.
McKenna agrees that the expectation is different from the start of 2023/24 when the unfancied Blues upset the form book by finishing second in the division to make a return to the top flight after 22 years away.
"I think that’s fair, but I think I’d rather be in that position,” he insisted. "I think it’s generally for good reasons that people expect us to be one of the strongest teams this year and we’d rather be in that position.
"And it’s not completely alien to us as a club either. Let’s not forget, it probably has a lot of similarities to the season that we got promoted from League One.
"You know that it’s a really tough division, anything can happen in any given week, but you also believe that if all the right things are done, then you can be one of the strongest teams.
"We’ve dealt with that before as a staff, as a group and we dealt with it very, very well that season and got the goals that we wanted.
"If there’s a three-sided coin, we’ve had three different sides of the coin over the last three seasons. Probably three seasons ago where there was more expectation on us.
"A promotion from the Championship where we probably way overachieved what should have been possible that season and last season where we were the big underdogs going into the season for many different reasons.
"So we’ve seen the different versions and if you asked me which one I’d prefer, I’d prefer to be going into it in a stronger position, so let’s take that challenge on.
"But irrespective of me talking about those three different sides, nothing really changes. You have to work well every day, you have to earn the right every day to improve, to get better, to come together as a team, to prepare to perform at the weekend and every weekend you need to be ready as a team, as a squad, as a group of players on the pitch to go out and give 100 per cent. Anything less than that will never give you a chance.
"If you give that and you have talent, then you give yourself a chance every weekend to try and win games. That’s been the focus right the way through the journey and that will be the focus again this year.”
McKenna isn’t shying away from return to the Premier League at the first time of asking being the aim.
"It’s something we’d desperately love to happen for many different reasons,” he said. "I can say in my situation, it’s not particularly for my career or my desperation to do that, it’s for the positive impact it can have on other people.
"The positive impact it can have on a town, on a county, on a football club, on everyone who works at the football club.
"To have those seasons of success, first of all before the end destination, they’re the best seasons of your career, can be the best seasons of people’s lives.
"We’ve had a few of those over the last few years and my aspiration is to give the people another one of those seasons, another season of success because you know what a difference it makes.
"Of course, then to compete at the top end in the toughest league in world football is fantastic for the players, for the club in many different ways and that’s what we’re really aspiring to bring the club to over a longer term period.
"That’s the journey and the challenges ahead of us, and that’s what we’re going to try and do.
"But it’s about the day by day, enjoying the road that we’re on, enjoying the games as they come, enjoying the season and hopefully it’ll end up where we want it to end up.”