Boss Kieran McKenna believes the Blues will need to improve in 2023 as he expects other sides to get better in the second half of the campaign.

Town go into 2023 second in League One, four points behind leaders Plymouth and ahead of Sheffield Wednesday in third on goals scored, the Blues and Owls otherwise having an identical record so far in 2022/23.

Overall in 2022, Town took 87 points from their 46 league games across the two half-seasons, an average of 1.89 per match, again behind the Wednesday (97 from 47, 2.06) and the Pilgrims (90 from 46, 1.96).

Having celebrated his 50th match in charge early last month and then a year as manager at Portman Road shortly afterwards, McKenna admitted he’s not had the time nor inclination to reflect specifically about 2022.

“No cause at all,” he laughed. “Certainly on a professional level, it’s been such a busy week, it's so busy preparing for the games and it's been a busy month and a month where there have been a few different anniversaries, so no, it's another day, it's another game and one that we have to be ready for and prepare well for.

“Of course, I'll enjoy sitting with my wife and chatting about the year and the family move and what we hope for for the year ahead, but on a professional level, it's all eyes on Lincoln.”

Assessing the position in League One going into the new year, McKenna said: “It's so competitive in the division that we can only focus on ourselves and our performances.

“There has been lots of noise and comments about us and our performances and we can only take that as a compliment and when people reference how good we are, I think they are probably referencing our style of play and dominance in games.

“But the reality is that there are other teams in fantastic form. Plymouth have been so consistent in terms of results, their points total is fantastic at the moment and they've got good experience of being in these positions.

“They've been at the top of League One over the last couple of years and they've been in the play-off positions.

“The same for Sheffield Wednesday, a team who just missed out on automatic promotion last year.

“There are other teams out there who have been in better positions than us over the last few years in really good form, so I think it's probably a little bit disrespectful to refer to us as the best team when those teams have collected so many points and been so dominant.

“For us, we just keep focusing on ourselves and our performances. We know that we've improved a lot from last season and we're in a much healthier position and we have to keep focusing on that.

“As for the other teams, it's up to them to keep their performances and their results as they have been, and we'll see where we are at the end of the season.”

Despite all the compliments, the Northern Irishman believes Town will have to get better if they’re to achieve their ultimate goal of winning promotion back to the Championship.

“I think we definitely will need to improve,” he said. “I think everyone will improve in the second half of the season.

“I think everyone will look to strengthen their squads and I think it showed in the second half of last season that there were a lot of teams who accumulated an awful lot of points in the second half of the year.

“So we're going to have to improve. I think there's still lots of scope for us to improve. Individually players are still developing at a good rate and adding to the games.

“As a team, I think we've hit a really high performance level in general and we've been the dominant team in the league in terms of creating chances and not giving many away, but we can certainly improve how we keep consistently converting that into points.

“And we're looking forward to the future. We've come from a position where there were 10 teams that finished above us last year. Seven of them are still in the league and three teams have come down from the Championship and kept really strong squads.

“So we know the competition is really fierce, we know that we're developing in the right way and it's just about continuing to do that day to day and staying calm and level, and we'll see where that takes us at the end.”

There was sad news for football in the final days of 2022 with the death of Brazilian legend Pele at the age of 82.

“Before my time in terms of having the privilege to watch him live or watch a lot of games,” McKenna said.

“But I've really enjoyed watching over the last 24 hours some of the tributes and old footage of the goals that he scored and the player that he was.

“Obviously a marvellous footballer and very well spoken about as a person, and a sad day for football, but also, I guess, a day to celebrate one of the game's greats.”

Photo: TWTD

micky_1560 added 10:29 - Jan 1 Again, wise words from the boss. If we don't make promotion, people have to remember how far we have come in a short space of time. How do you think both Plymouth and Sheff Wed fans felt at the end of last season. It takes time to build from the depths of despair we were under Evans ownership.
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Suffolkboy added 10:31 - Jan 1 Unequivocally realistic and unemotional in his assessments , KM continues to lay out clearly the demands and tasks ahead. Thankfully his current playing squad seem well focused on the improvements he's after ,but one would guess they too well realise the further improvements to be found AND locked into place if Championship football is to return to P Rd . COYB
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Gforce added 10:39 - Jan 1 Let's hope the new additions to our squad are better than those who sign for Plymouth and Sheff Wed, could be the difference between automatic promotion and the dreaded play off's.
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Karlosfandangal added 11:08 - Jan 1 Would love Town to sign a Marcus Stewart or a David Johnson player and have the impact they had on Town, think Johnson scored something like 22 goals in 30 games when he signed for us and I think he was the fastest player to reach 50 goals for the club.
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Carberry added 11:24 - Jan 1 I can go a bit further back Karlos, remembering Sir Bobby signing Frank Clarke and Jimmy Robertson to change our fortunes. For all those that remember, what days, eh?
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Bluespeed added 11:39 - Jan 1 I remember Carberry ! I had to find space on my wooden rattle to put their names on ! Master stroke signings & one we would do well to emulate in January, Happy new year All COYB's
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Marinersnose added 11:42 - Jan 1 Town have a very astute and level headed manager who speaks so much sense. Of course we need to improve as others will look to do the same. Barnsley are the team I worry about most as they have many Championship players and had a terrible start to the season. Their performance in the game at PR demonstrated to me their huge potential. With KMK in charge I'm sure we will improve in areas of weakness. I'm excited and optimistic for the second half of the season

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TimmyH added 11:53 - Jan 1 Agree with McK...our form has been patchy of late, only the Oxford game of late has been our only comfortable win coupled with a good performance. It's in our hands if we get into the automatics, this is where the real season begins!
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carlisleaway added 11:57 - Jan 1 Remember that Tuesday night game v Arsenal which we had to win. Robertson down the right wing crossed and Frank Clarke netted the winner. EADT the next day reckoned you could hear the roar from the North Stand in the town centre…….those were the days
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Bazza8564 added 12:01 - Jan 1 I agree with MarinersNose, Barnsley impressed me down here, as did Bolton for the first 45 minutes. BUT, and its a big one, having been out of the Championship for almost 4 years, our cost control, coupled with our new ownership and the total clear-out 18 months ago means that we should be in a position to invest a little more aggressively than those around us. I hope so anyway. We dont have legacy contracts with players on 15-20k a week, I suspect Barnsley and Wednesday do, and we have generous backing from the US which should give us the edge over the Plymouths of the world. There is no doubt that we need 3 points tomorrow to get our MOJO back but the fixtures that Wednesday and Plymouth have in Jan Feb, (They both come here and have to play each other and have tough other games) mean that if we get ourselves back into winning ways we have nothing to fear.

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DaGremloid added 12:12 - Jan 1 How interesting to hear the manager feels we need to improve. I, and many others, have been called all sorts for saying exactly the same.
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OldFart71 added 12:35 - Jan 1 I think this season some players such as ladapo have improved, some such as Morsy keep up their standards pretty much as of last season and one or two haven't reached the same heights. There's also the fact that injuries have played their part so to still be second is a pretty good achievement. But it may be that we need 3 or 4 coming in and this may entail dropping a couple out of the squad who are long term injured.

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ImAbeliever added 13:04 - Jan 1 What a geezer!
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ImAbeliever added 13:07 - Jan 1 I remember Carberry. The beginning of ten glorious years.
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Crinkle59 added 13:25 - Jan 1 Just have to remember we are division 1 can''t expect Sir Bobby' standard of players.......... YET
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Stato added 14:45 - Jan 1 Good point GForce but I hope our signings are better than our first 11 as my main concern is we just get more competition for the subs bench rather than more competition for the starting 11.
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Stato added 14:51 - Jan 1 @mickey why are you already laying the ground for a 3rd season with KM ???? If we don't get promoted this season despite having the strongest squad in the division I would think there is little chance of him getting a 3rd season. My guess is that we go up as champions after some string Jan signings but if the owners don't back him in Jan big time then there is your clue as to his chances of being given another go.

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AlanG296 added 15:15 - Jan 1 Evans ownership is increasingly irrelevant now. Yes the club was very run down when he went but the investment by the new owners has transformed the club and expectations. Achieving success this season is down to the people at the club now and hopefully others to join soon. Only a small minority of the current professionals at the club, players and others, were even here before Gamechanger. Evans is responsible for a lot over the years but if we're still in this division next season, he can't be used as an excuse for failure.

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yorkieblue62 added 15:26 - Jan 1 Great memories Carberry of that win over Arsenal - I was there with an Arsenal fan who couldn't believe it! Would be nice to think the next 10 years could be anything like the Robson era... we can but dream
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blueboy1981 added 17:24 - Jan 1 Thanks McK - at least some of us realise improvement is necessary, in other words much still to do !! Like making sure of 3 points against Lincoln ! - Plymouth are Coasting it, SW will come on stronger, and keep an eye on Barnsley. At this moment the Play Offs look most likely - if you fancy them, then I don't !!! Half Time - Much to do Second Half - for those (at least one abuser) who thinks we are already Promoted … !!!

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KMcBlue added 17:57 - Jan 1 Apparently we don't need to improve Kmk. Top scorers and just really unlucky....
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budgieplucker added 19:34 - Jan 1 Whilst money doesn't buy you a passport out of this league ITFC have invested heavily, probably double the back room staff of most clubs at this level, a squad significantly bigger with strong talent. Premiership attendances, generating significantly additional income over nearly all other teams except perhaps Sheffield Wednesday. The owners know what a marquee signing can do like Drogba at Phoenix, however, not sure this is the route Kieran would entertain unless it was very short term. It's fair to say though that it was unrealistic to expect all Paul Cooks signings to have been successful, but time to unload Penney, Harper, Hladky, John-Jules - loans for Edwards, and Vincent-Young

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