McKenna: We Know Nothing’s Done Yet Thursday, 20th Apr 2023 17:00 Boss Kieran McKenna is maintaining his one-game-at-a-time approach, knowing that’s nothing’s won yet, despite the Blues sitting in second in the League One table with only four games left to play. Barring miracle scorelines, Town need at most eight points from those matches to secure a return to the Championship after four years in League One. But McKenna isn’t looking further than the next match and unlike journalists and fans isn’t assessing the permutations and calculations. Asked whether the mantra from the players has been that nothing’s won yet, McKenna responded: “It’s so obvious that it hardly needs to be said. We’re on an incredible run, we’ve got 88 points, somebody said to me that 90 points has never not got promoted. Well, that’s going to happen this year, I’m pretty certain. “It’s not like we’re sitting seven points clear and nothing’s won yet, we have no margin, we’ve had no margin for the last few months, and neither do the other teams.  “It’s a really competitive top of the division and we know that we can’t afford to perform badly too often, we have to keep performing and if we keep performing, we keep giving ourselves a chance to win and that’s what we’re going to have to do. “Of course we know that nothing’s done yet. Tuesday night was a big three points but we know it’s only three points and we know all of the teams up there are going to need to accumulate quite a lot more points before the season’s done to be successful. “So that’s what we’re going to have to do and the way to do that is just to focus on getting ready to perform against Peterborough.” McKenna says he and his staff instigated their each-game-as-it-comes mantra from the start of the campaign. “It’s been our way all season, it’s something we’ve spoken about from the first days of pre-season. We had talks in pre-season about how we would handle the season,” he said. “A big part of that was focusing on us and our performances, not worrying too much about the outcome, focusing on the process, trying to improve every day, preparing for every game in a professional manner and trying to go out there and deliver performances. And if we do that and trust in that, we’ll pick up results along the way. “When you come to the end of the season, the external noise becomes louder but we’ve been really consistent in our messages and behaviours inside the building and the players take a good lead on that as well. “Once you get to the end, there’s more noise on the outside and, of course, players will check the table and the points and see how the other teams are getting on. “But also we’ve had enough experiences over the season to know that every game is difficult and we knew going into Port Vale that it was going to be a really difficult game and they were going to fight for things and there are no guarantees. “And we certainly know that going into Saturday with the level of the opponent. I think the players have enough respect for the opponents, for the difficulty of the division to know that as soon as we take our eye too much off the next game and what we need to do, then we’ll get found out very quickly. That’s where our focus as been since the first day and that’s where it still remains now.” The Blues, who have won 10 of their last 11, are topping form tables not just in England but across the leagues in Europe’s top footballing nations. Does it feel like something special is happening when you’re inside the camp? “Not really. Somebody said that to be earlier on, a staff member who hasn’t been in the club for a while because he’s moved on, he said ‘It must be amazing with the run you’re on and everyone must be so happy’ and I said it’s not really very different, to be honest. “We don’t have any time to look back, we don’t have any time to pat ourselves on the back for our form. All we’re thinking about is the next game. On the flip-side, when you don’t win against Cheltenham, it’s still pretty similar day-to-day. “We’re focused, we’re working hard, we’re preparing as well as we can and the time for looking back is at the end of the season, the time for, hopefully, enjoying the emotions of what the season has brought is in the summer.” Asked whether the current feel-good factor has been reflected in his meetings with fans in and around town, McKenna says he’s always found supporters positive from the time he took charge in December 2021. “It’s been like that all season and ever since I arrived here,” he reflected. “The positivity has been there all along any time I’ve met anyone. “And, to be honest, it hasn’t always been dependent on results because it’s been the same whenever we didn’t win so many games or when we had some draws. “The supporters I’ve met, the feedback was always about the style of play, the experience of coming to Portman Road now, the entertainment of the matches, the energy and the positivity of the players, the spirit within the club. The feedback from the supporters has always been about that whenever I meet them out and about. “They’ve been so positive and so supportive and that’s been wonderful, really. Of course, when you’re winning lots of games and you get to this stage of the season, everyone’s that bit more excited, but I have to say the support has been first class since day one and that’s not always dependent on what the recent run has been.”
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