Town boss Kieran McKenna says last week’s 5-0 thrashing of Sheffield United gave everyone a boost but that the players were in a positive mindset and looking forward to the season ahead even prior to the victory over the Blades.
The comprehensive win against the South Yorkshiremen, which swiftly led to manager Ruben Selles’s departure and the return of Chris Wilder, was the Blues’ first of the season after three draws and a defeat had seen them drop to 20th in the early season table.
"There’s been a really good energy, but there was before again, to be honest,” McKenna said when asked whether the Sheffield United match had given the squad a boost. "I think we’re pretty good at that in general here, keeping things level and keeping things positive.
"We’ve actually had that feeling since the international break. The group was in a really positive mindset and looking forward to what’s ahead.
"And of course, when you get a really good result like that and enjoy the performance, an enjoyable game, it gives everyone a little bit of confidence in the direction of travel and just a good feeling amongst the group.
"It's been a good week of work here. We’re all really, really conscious that it’s one good game, one good result, the first game really for this group. So it’s a good way to start that next chapter.
"But it’s only one game, so everyone is focused on training and we’re looking forward to Saturday.”
McKenna says work on the training ground has been very good this week ahead of Saturday’s match at Blackburn Rovers with everyone bar Wes Burns, who is continuing his recovery from his ACL injury, involved.
The Blues boss was asked whether players were giving him tough decisions with their work at Playford Road.
"I can only really say this week because the group felt really new from last week onwards, really, but the training level this week has been excellent. I have to say, and I said that to the group, it’s been right where we want it to be,” he said.
"If we keep working like that, then we’ll make the improvements that we need to make at the training ground here on an individual and on a team level. So that’s been really enjoyable. I think the players, staff and everyone have really enjoyed feeling the level this week.
"The next challenge is that you come together for the matchday as a group and only 11 players can start. If we want to be a top team in the division, then we need a top bench.
"And if you want to have two good players for every position, then there’s also going to be good players who maybe don’t make the matchday squad every week.
"At the moment, and we spoke with this with the group, we’re in the phase where it's one game a week. This week and next week as well, we’ve got almost everyone fit apart from Wes Burns, I think. So that’s as competitive as we can be in terms of trying to get in the team and trying to get in the squad.
"But we know over the course of the season, there’ll be other times when games are coming thick and fast, where we have injuries and suspensions and it's really going to feel like all hands on deck.
"Weeks like this are brilliant for the training week. Of course, it's always a challenge in terms of everyone deserving to start this week or be involved in the game. But that's not possible. But I think the players are wise enough to know that that’s part of being a successful group.
"And over the course of the year, the pitch will look different at different times. And again, a strength of ours can hopefully be the ability to sustain quality through the busier spells or the spells where you have fewer players available.”
Continuing on the strength-in-depth and players perhaps having to bide their time before making starts, McKenna added: "I think when you have good players, and I think we have good players at the level, everyone wants to start the games.
"We have to have a squad where all of our players believe that they could be starting and performing really, really well for this team or any team in the division.
"Everyone wants to start, everyone’s going to compete to start. You’re fine and it's healthy for players to be disappointed if they don’t start.
"But I think having that real understanding that in a Championship season, in modern football nowadays, especially since the five subs rule and how that’s evolving now with teams, the impact of subs is absolutely massive.
"We’ve shown the players the stats behind that. I think in our two promotion seasons, we were there or thereabouts the highest team in Europe for goals off the bench in both seasons.
"You look at the teams that do well in the Championship. They’re generally always up there with the highest teams in Europe for goals off the bench.
"You look at some teams that did really well in the Premier League last year and there’s very, very regularly a theme of having goal scorers off the bench.
"So I think we've already seen that in the season. We've had some good late impacts, and certainly going into Friday night, it felt like the squad was in a really, really strong place.
"And the players know and I think they're starting to really feel the messaging around it that if you don't start, there’s every chance that, especially in the forward positions, you’re going to come on, the opposition will be tired and there’s as much chance that you might get your goal or assist being the one who’s coming on against the tired opposition as being the one who’s going to start.
"And when the games start coming thick and fast, it certainly won't be the same team every week.
"And we’ve got some really contrasting profiles in the different positions and in different games, it’ll suit different people.
"I think the players are starting to understand that it is a change from being at a team maybe in the lower end or the middle end of the division in terms of aspiration, and that’s an adjustment.
"But if you want to be the top team in any division, whether that’s the Championship, the Premier League or any division, then having that strength and depth, having those different options and knowing that it really is now a game for the squad, that’s a really important part of getting a winning mindset in the group.”