Boss Mick McCarthy will be looking for his Town side to emulate some of his previous clubs in 2015/16 by bouncing back from play-off disappointment to subsequent success.

Town’s promotion push was halted by Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Norwich, the Canaries claiming a place at Monday’s Wembley final where they will meet Middlesbrough.

“The play-offs haven’t been kind to me,” McCarthy admitted following Saturday’s match. “But generally when I’ve lost in the play-offs I’ve won the Championship the following year or qualified for a World Cup, so it’s kind of been good to me. Maybe people should remember that.”

The two-legged tie against Norwich was McCarthy’s seventh as a manager at Championship or international level.

His one success was the victory over Iran when he was in charge of the Republic of Ireland which saw his side to the 2002 World Cup finals. That qualification followed play-off defeats to Belgium for a place at the 1998 tournament and Turkey for a spot at Euro 2000.

Domestically, McCarthy’s Millwall team lost to Derby in the play-off semi-final at what’s now Championship level in 1993/94 but failed to replicate that success the next year when they finished 12th

In 2003/04 his Sunderland team finished third and lost in the play-off semi-final to Crystal Palace on penalties but came back to win the division by seven points the next year.

McCarthy’s Wolves team were fifth in 2006/07 when they were defeated in the play-off semi-finals by their biggest rivals West Brom and after finishing seventh the following season won the Championship in 2008/09 by seven points.

The Town boss says once the sting of Saturday’s defeat is less raw he’ll look back on the campaign with a sense of achievement.

“It’s not a time for reflection. I’m not sat here thinking ‘I can’t wait to come back on July 1st’, I’m thinking ‘I can’t wait to go on holiday’,” he admitted.

“But when I do reflect it’ll be one of pride and that we’ve got a good squad of players coming back.”

Meanwhile, Blackburn have confirmed the release of striker Luke Varney, who ended the season on loan with the Blues.

The 32-year-old suffered a ruptured achilles in the first leg of the play-off semi-final and faces at least six months on the sidelines with Town having offered him the chance to undergo his rehab at Playford Road.

Photo: Action Images

cowboynickblue added 12:08 - May 18 I didn't think we would even make playoffs mid march but MM gets the best out of lets be honest average players barring a few. With MM in charge top two is poss with a few quality players coming in with a few old players going out. Keep the faith even though its going to be very tough.
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jas0999 added 12:26 - May 18 The next couple of weeks will dictate whether we are going to bounce back. Not in terms of new signings or sales, but in who we release and keep. If we are serious about a promotion challenge, I would hope we would for better than Chaplow. We need to look after Varney, but will need to ensure we sign a replacement initially. Stephen Hunt is a great chap, but not good enough. Ditto his brother. Tabb had an excellent first half the the season, but has been extremely poor since Christmas. Is he really good enough? Anderson is perhaps the only iffy one I would keep as a squad player. We need better than the players mentioned above. We need more quality and goals in that midfield. If we sign up the same faces who have struggled with injury and form, to me it would instantly state our lack of ambition this summer. We have good players on the whole. A good but small squad. We need to add that little extra to push on.

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topguy added 13:10 - May 18 I think one thing we might not have looked at some of the best teams in the league have played 3 at the back in comparison if we look at playing chambers berra and smith all at centre half we then look to play mings at left wing bk along with skuse and bishop as deep lying mid (with skuse staying put and bishop moving forward when in possession)with then maybe 3 up top with sears and didzy just behind murphy to move out wide I see just one prob right wing bk is parr or Hewitt up to it but I see it solving the defensive issue just an idea granted this wont happen and is just conjecture but based on a solid def we can score I can see us getting there with a couple of additions but have to see who we have and best pos we cant keep tabb ambrose hunt with connerly stewart they are all the same.

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alfromcol added 13:58 - May 18 Repeat of last season. Once Dids was injured our results were not so good. Probably the biggest single factor in the last two seasons for lack of promotion. Just the few minutes on the field at Norwich showed what we had missed. COYBs
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commuterblue added 14:00 - May 18 yes souperjim, I like the back and the front although I think we would lack bite in that midfield, particularly out wide. against teams who play it wide a lot Bru and Bishop on the sides of the daimond would not be enough.Need Ando and someone like him wide.
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Beattiesballbag added 14:04 - May 18 I wouldn't hold your breath for anything to improve, as we haven't any money we really need to look at players from the lower leagues as most of the club's that have been down there in recent years have benefited from the players they've picked up........& they can play football! Southampton, Norwich, Bournemouth, even Wolves now look a better team with the players they've picked up than the so called Prem lot they went down with. Didn't Mick bring two scouts from Wolves with him? & if so who have they uncovered in the last two close seasons........can't think of any! Russell Osman recommended Mings, someone down the road told Mick they wanted to unload Sears before for his Contract runs out. Every one else is a cast off or a player he knows........& most are getting to their twilight years. It will be interesting to see how well Bristol City do next year? According to some on here the players down in the depths of Div1 are not the same quality as our one & only midfield general who we managed to steal away from City last year........ Their fans must still be crying about that. But hey no need to worry I'm sure some agent will offer Mick some mouth watering prize to sign before the season starts & with a bit of luck will already know how to defend so he can fit straight into the team.

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Palestine added 14:29 - May 18 Interesting chat. Let's say for argument sake Mick is allowed to invest in 4 or 5 new players, my question is would he look to strengthen so we could be a (still combative) ball-playing team, or just look to be an even better hoof-ball team? I hope the former - and at Wolves he at least had some good wingers - but it seems to me that his INSTINCT is to play hoofball, get rid, and not look to pass and move. On Saturday this reached a new level when the main pattern of play was a defender passing it BACK to Bart to launch it long to Murphy. Bart created most of our attacks basically. I just don't see how this can be ultimately successful. It might scrape you out of the division, but would suffer horribly in the Prem. Really hope we can get in a bit of quality so it is a bit better to watch. COYBs!

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Lightningboy added 14:57 - May 18 Think we should have a look/take a chance on Tranmere's Max Power. 13 goals from midfield for a relegated team..only 21.
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itsonlyme added 16:49 - May 18 Lightningboy - my point exactly - we need to look at league 1 and 2 players and take a risk! Cressie is a fine example of what can be found at that level! On another point, I cannot understand how MM had two wingers at Wolves and by all accounts played some good football, but as yet has not repeated it at town? Am I being too harsh or missed a point here?
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bohslegend added 17:30 - May 18 even those critical of MM are divided on whats the "right" way to play. Some say 4-3-3 and other say we need wingers. Who would want to be a manager? Every fan has a strong opinion on the shape, the style, the players etc but the manager is the only one who can pick the team. #inMickWeTrust
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rfretwell added 19:09 - May 18 Yes that front three of Murph, Sears and Didsy is very exciting. We got a brief taste of it at Norwich on saturday with Didsy creating so well. For next season we MUST get more goals from midfield. Burleys teams had that from Holland and Magilton. Norwich have it from Johnson and Howson. Johnson was a free so they are out there in the lower divisions. Andos goal v Norwich looks like it has come too late for Mick. Shame - he played so well in the play offs

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