Manager Kieran McKenna says all transfer windows have been tough but this one presented the most challenging situations in pre-season with the Blues going into an important final few days still needing to add to the squad and with more players perhaps moving on.
The summer has seen a number of key members of the team which won back-to-back promotions move on for various reasons, the likes of skipper Sam Morsy, who signed a lucrative two-year deal with Kuwait SC, Massimo Luongo, who was released, Cameron Burgess, who opted to join Swansea City on a free transfer, and Axel Tuanzebe, who departed for Burnley on a similar basis.
Nathan Broadhead left for Wrexham in a £7.5 million rising to £10 million deal and Omari Hutchinson, who signed for Nottingham Forest for £37.5 million last week. Liam Delap moved on for £30 million to Chelsea after one season at the club.
Luke Woolfenden could yet join them in moving on this summer with Coventry and Stoke among a number of Championship sides keen on the centre-half.
Town have added Azor Matusiwa, Ashley Young and veteran keeper David Button on a permanent basis and loanees Cedric Kipre, Jens Cajuste, for a second season and Chuba Akpom.
However, midfield target Hayden Hackney turned the Blues down after a £15 million plus £5 million add-ons fee had been agreed, while a loan move for Como striker Ivan Azon broke down over the weekend.
"I think they have all been tough, just different,” McKenna said when asked if this had been the toughest of his time with the Blues. "Certainly last year was really tough and so was coming to the Championship the first time round.
"I think it has had the most challenging situations to deal with in pre-season - that’s fair to say. We had incredible momentum and kept a core group together. But different situations and challenges, especially the players who have been with you a long time and we all have an affinity to, trying to balance all those things and build a squad that has been through so much change over the last few seasons, that has been a real challenge.
"We can only do our best as a club and try and do the right things - for the club and everyone involved.
"It has been a challenging summer but it was always going to be. That’s the job, it’s about how we come out of those challenges and come out of them in a really strong way, really together and really united. That’s what we need to work towards over the next few weeks.”
He added: "It was always going to be a big priority to keep the core of the group together, but it was always going to be difficult for different reasons.
"Some situations, like Liam and Omari, were always going to be clear and obvious. If you recruit highly talented young players and you do a really good job in developing them, which I think we did as a club, they are probably not going to be with you for their whole careers - even if we had sustained our place in the Premier League.
"We were sad to lose both, but I think in the sands of time they need to be looked at as success stories for the club - two players who were seen as high fees when they came in that developed really well at the football club and both went for club record-breaking fees. Hopefully, both will go on to have really strong careers.
"With other situations, there are challenges of players who have been with us on a journey from League One. I think it is a fairly unique situation in most cases.
"While our wish, as a club, would be to keep the large majority of that group for continuity and consistency going into this season, you want everyone in the squad to be motivated and want to be here.
"Some fantastic characters, but some have had some life-changing offers, whether that’s financially or fantastic football projects. Different options that those players see as fantastic for their lives and their livelihoods and their futures.
"In that case, it is a very difficult situation for the club. You want to keep the squad together, but you also want players to want to be here and you want the best for those players.
"It’s not an easy situation. For example, the likes of Samy, you’d want him at the club. The centre-half unit has probably lost some experience with Cameron Burgess not being at the club.
"But it’s a free market. Players who have been here for the last few years have done fantastically well for this football club and that’s brought some really top offers for some players.
"We are trying to manage that situation as best as we can, but it’s meant a rather large turnover of the squad in some cases.
"But again, my focus - and that of the club - is that come the end of August we have a really strong squad that have fantastic motivation to help the club with their goals and that want to push themselves on individually and as a club.
"We are not quite where we want to be yet, but the hope is come the end of the transfer window, we will be.”
Quizzed on whether that makes it difficult for him to plan at the present time, he continued: "In terms of the dynamic of the group, you are waiting to see how it settles. From a tactical point of view, you are waiting to see what profiles of player are going to be here.
"We are always a team that has tried build around the strength of the players in terms of how we play. At the moment, we have different relationships on the pitch and people playing perhaps different roles that they haven’t done as much.
"We want to get the group together and really start building those connections on the pitch as well as our structures and patterns to utilise our players we have here.
"That’s a challenge for a lot of managers, to be honest, especially for a team that has come down and especially for a team that climbed so quick and has then come down a division.
"There’s always going to be that element of change and uncertainty through the summer. It’s up to us to make the best of it, deliver the best performances we can and to pick up points.
"We know we will have a lot of work to do in the autumn to pull the group together and build. Everyone is going to have a part to play in that - the players, the staff and also the supporters making the new players feel welcome. As they did against Southampton, they need to really push us on.
"If players give everything on the pitch, like they did last Sunday, the supporters will acknowledge and respect that, even if we don’t always get the win.
"We’ve got a lot of work to do in the months ahead to pull everyone together and go towards the direction we want to go. It’s a big, big job for everyone.”
Before the autumn work, there is the final stretch of the transfer window, which closes on September 1st.
"The reality is that the last few days are important, but it’s not where my focus is,” he insisted. "As a manager, my focus is on the players we have and not what may or may not come through the door.
"You can pin all your hopes on signing someone for a certain position, thinking it will solve everything and that player could then get injured on the first day.
"What really underpins success is culture, work ethic and the day-to-day process here, pushing ourselves to get better every day.
"To be successful, there is a certain talent level you want and need. To beat the teams we want to beat this season and to be successful over 46 games, you need a certain level of depth, physicality and experience. You need to have all those ingredients.
"But at the end of the day, what will make us successful is not whether we bring in one player or four players in the next week, or whether we lose one player, two players or no players. It’s going to be culture, how we work, how we push and how we do that together.
"That’s where my focus is. Hopefully we have a good last week of the window, but it’s all the other stuff that’s going to make us successful.”