Boss Mick McCarthy says he knows from experience that teams can relax their guard having confirmed promotion, as Saturday’s opponents Burnley did on Monday. The Blues manager achieved promotions from the Championship during his time in charge at Sunderland and Wolves.

“I’m pleased they got promoted on Monday,” he said. “Because I’ve done it, I’ve been there. You do relax your guard. You’ve played at an intensity for 44 games that is difficult to maintain but you do maintain it and you’re working at it all the time.

“But once you let it down, it’s hard to get back to that, probably like Leicester when they got promoted with five or six games to go and they lost the next one. I’m hoping Burnley do the same.”

He hopes that the Blues will return from Turf Moor with a result which means they are still in with a shout of a top-six place when Sheffield Wednesday visit Portman Road next Saturday: “It will be brilliant if we take it into the final day.

“I guess I’m hoping that Burnley have been enjoying themselves this week, that they’ve taken their eye off the ball slightly because you do if you get promoted, it’s hard to get back to that intensity that you’ve shown for 44 games.

“I know people will say that that’s bonkers and ask ‘Why is that?’. Because it is, let me just tell you. You’ve been as tight as a piano wire working at it and suddenly you relax. You’ve achieved what you want to achieve and it’s hard then just to get back to that level.

“And I’m living in hope that that’s the case with Burnley because if they’re right at it, they’re the second best team in the league, and we’ll have a really tough afternoon.”

Photo: Action Images

bohslegend added 11:54 - Apr 25 Tight as a piano wire - I laughed.
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