Boss Kieran McKenna says his Town side has been increasingly competitive since Christmas, despite the points picked up not having reflected that, but knows that the gap to safety has increased and the number of games remaining is reducing.

The Blues are still to win a Premier League match in 2025, the only side in the division yet to secure a victory, and have won only three times in the competition this season.

They are 18th, six points plus goal difference behind Wolves in the final safe spot with only 10 games remaining. That could get even more taxing on Saturday with the Old Gold away against bottom side Southampton.

However, in matches such as last week’s 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, there has been very little between the teams with Town all too often unable to turn that competitiveness against sides who have been in the Premier League for a number of seasons into points.

McKenna was asked about the progress and growth of his squad, something he was loath to do given lack of points in recent matches, with Town having added only two to their total since the turn of the year.

“I’m not in a big philosophical state to sit here and talk about what fantastic growth we’ve had because we’re disappointed we haven’t picked up more points in recent times,” he said.

“I believe that the team has improved, I believe that individuals have improved, despite the results in the last block of games since maybe the Christmas period not reflecting it.

“I think we’re increasingly competitive and the statistics in terms of the chances we create as opposed to what we give up back that up as well.

“I think there’s definitely been improvement in there and I think we’re getting to a point where we’re really consistently competing well, but we want to pick up points and get results.

“That’s where the whole focus is and there’s not too much looking back at the moment on the things we’ve done well, it’s about pushing, how we can make the next step, the next games and getting points on the board hopefully on Saturday.”

Quizzed on what might have been done differently or whether he feels the gap from the Championship to the Premier League is now insurmountable, McKenna said he doesn’t feel it’s time for a review of the campaign.

“It’s not the stage of the season for a reflection on the season because we’re still very much in it and we’re still in a position where we’re competitive and we’re fighting to achieve some pretty incredible goals by the end of the season, so that’s where our whole focus is,” he insisted.

“When the end of the season comes, hopefully we’re having a big party and a big celebration, maybe we’re not, but whichever way it goes, there will be things that we can look back on, we’ll have learned an awful lot as a football club about trying to make that step.

“We’ll have learned it in terms of making a step that nobody’s made in recent football, from League One to the Premier League in two years, and there will certainly be things we’ll look back and think that we got right and there will certainly be things that we’ll look back on that we’ll think we maybe could have done a little bit differently.

“But I’m 100 per cent certain we won’t look back and it won’t be for any lack of trying, any lack of effort, any lack of will to do the right thing for the football club and hopefully that will bring us success in the end.

“That’s been how we’ve approached it and hopefully that will bring us success. But whatever the end of the season brings, we’re certainly going to be in a position where we’ll be stronger as a football club, either way, and we’ll have learned an awful lot that will help us in the future.”

McKenna says he’s not going into weekends looking at the other sides in the relegation battle’s fixtures and assessing which way matches elsewhere might go.

“No, for us, it’s us,” he said. “There’s maybe some different scenarios where if you’re level on points with a team and there are one or two games left, of course, but at this point we know we need to win games at a greater rate up until this point to give ourselves a chance.

“That’s really tough but we believe we’re capable of doing it. If we don’t manage to do that, then it doesn’t matter what anyone else does. If we do manage to do that over the next 10 games, then we’ll give ourselves a chance.

“I think by the points total it’s not in our hands. If the other teams win all their games then so be it, but all we can control is ourselves and trying to pick up as many points as we can over the next 10 games and see where we’re at.”

Reflecting on the division as a whole this season, he added: “The strength in depth of the Premier League is incredible this season and the gap, if you take the teams who were in the Premier League last year and take the gap between them all, it’s getting tighter and tighter.

“The investment of some of the teams who finished in the middle of the table last year or towards the bottom end of the table this summer was really, really big and I think the teams who are in the Premier League now know that the league’s getting stronger and you have to keep investing and go on again to improve.

“Some of those teams have taken some great strides and you can see by the underperformance or difficulties faced by some of the bigger clubs that the margins are getting smaller and smaller and you can’t be too far off it in any domain or it’s going to be really hard to pick up wins.

“You’ve seen that not just with Man United or other teams aren’t having the season [they’d expect]. Even Man City, when you have a little dip and some injuries and some challenges, they went 11 games in the Premier League winning very few. If it can happen to them, it can happen to pretty much anyone.

“I think the depth across the Premier League is so strong I think every team who can establish themselves in this league can financially pretty much bring in players that are in the top, top, top end of world football and you look on an individual level at the quality in some of those teams, there are players there who could play for almost any team in the world.

“I think that’s pretty unique to the Premier League and I think, without speaking about the very, very top of the league, Liverpool look like they’ve opened up an insurmountable gap at the top, but the competitiveness below that this year has been really, really high and it seems to be getting higher every year.”

Given the strength of the division and where the Blues have come from in such a short space of time, McKenna knows it would be a big achievement if Town were able to stay up.

“It would,” he said. “I’ve been asked to rank it a few times compared to last year and I don’t think you can because it just feels so different.

“What the club has done in the last few years I don’t think could be repeated again and us to not be in the relegation zone right now, you could probably look at two refereeing decisions and say that could put us not in the relegation zone and I don’t think we’d be sitting here feeling like we’re having the best season that anyone’s ever had. It feels so different, I don’t think you can compare.

“I think there’s certainly ways to look at it. Last year, it was seen as an incredible achievement for us to be just behind Leicester and competing with Southampton. This year, we’re ahead of Southampton by a little margin and just ahead of Leicester and it’s seen very, very differently.

“The teams that you’re trying to catch up in the Premier League is a big, big jump. There’s no surprise the three teams that went up rom the Championship last year are the bottom three teams in the Premier League this year.

“To catch one of the teams who are established in the Premier League is getting more and more difficult, and for us it’s even more so with our journey.

“There’s no doubt if we can finish ahead of the teams that we came up with last year it would be a fantastic achievement. If we manage to catch any of the Premier League clubs who are established in this division and the advantages that gives from the journey that we’ve been on would be incredible.

“We know that, but it’s the stage of the season where, although I’m using a lot of words, it’s not about words, it’s about what we can manage to do on the pitch and trying to fight with everything we can for the last 10 games, and that starts on Saturday and trying to fight to get some points and then take it from there.”

McKenna knows the importance of going into the Wolves match at Portman Road on Saturday 5th April still having something to play for with only the visit to AFC Bournemouth between tomorrow’s game with Nottingham Forest and the Old Gold’s trip to Suffolk.

“No doubt,” he said. “I think the next two games in the build-up to that are important. We finish the season with some home games, we finish the season at home [to West Ham] and we want to stay in the fight.

“It’s late in the season but I’ve said it every week, the challenges that we’ve had, we’ve probably not fielded the same team in any two weekends this year. Probably every game we’ve either had a debut or if not a debut partnerships that on the pitch have never played together before.

“In a lot of ways how we’re competing is trending upwards, it hasn’t reflected on points yet, but I do feel that if we can manage to stay in the competition, if we can manage to pick up points, then we’ve got a chance to keep improving to the end of the season and pick up points at a greater rate.

“But we know that there’s a gap there and the games are coming down, so it’s really important that we pick up points in the next few games. We know that.”

Following Saturday’s match, there is a two-and-a-half-week break before the game against the Cherries.

“We’ll try and use the period well. We’ll have a good number of the group away, but we’ll try and use the period well,” he continued.

“We’ve got two and a half weeks without a game, which is really, really unusual for us, especially for our club and the journey that we’ve had and the amount of fixtures that you have in the lower divisions.

“That’s going to be unusual for us. We’ll try and use it well, we know when we come back it’s into a big week, Bournemouth away on the Wednesday and then Wolves on the Saturday, so there’s certainly not going to be too much of an ease-off in the next two weeks.

“More from a mental point of view, we need to stay mentally sharp and tuned in and physically we’ll try and get the balance right to get some recovery but also keeping ready to go into a really intense game at Bournemouth.

“That planning is in the background, this week’s been all about trying to get ready for Saturday.”

TWTD

Eeyore added 19:17 - Mar 14 We will have an amazing squad for the championship if we have McKenna (or a manager who continues the work of McKenna) and if Ashton stays. Remember that the club improved recruitment when the new owners came in with Paul Cook in charge. If the investors stay with us we will be OK. Basically if everything stays the same the future is bright regardless of which league we are in. But hold on! We are going to beat Forrest and go on a winning streak that keeps us in the Prem. So just relax!

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Leejames99 added 19:59 - Mar 14 Pretty simple Kmk, drop Davis for Townsend and if we take lead, bring on Burgess and go back five and shut shop. If Davis plays teams know just ping it past him and run or ping a pass to gap left due to defense moving over. Leave Delap on for 90 mins surely he can play 90 mins and only use subs when really needed and we might be okay for a run. If Townsend had played last week I think we win but past is past, let's see the changes or if you have the guile to make the right one. COYB

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Gazelle added 21:22 - Mar 14 Lee James I can’t believe that so many disagree with you about Davis. He was one of our best players last season and created many of our goals but the fact remains that he is a WEAK FULL BACK and has been responsible for a number of goals that we have conceded this season, two penalties given away and out of position too many times. Worse than Muric if you add them all up. However he is a class attacker and I’d like to see him in a left midfield or even on the wide left.

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IP9 added 21:43 - Mar 14 Not sure I’m buying this. We’re the only team in the 92 not to win a league game in 2025…
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Leejames99 added 21:50 - Mar 14 @gazelle I know, its just some fans will blame anyone but the promotion lads. Davis was excellent last year and is good going forward and I also would love to see Davis in front of Townsend on left mid so he can get crosses in and next season a 4-4-2 be awesome with him in mid and Hutch on other and rotating with Phillogene, J Clarke, Ogbene with Szmodicks and Delap up top He could be brill in that formation but Mckenna won't do it so if I had choice Townsend has to cone in as we have an abundance of left wingers, the whole team for me is out of whack just to accomodate Davis so J Clarke and Phillogene end up defending it's madness, I really think also that another loss tomorrow and the owners might look at a change 27 points is still alot to play for. If Davis plays Forest will stroll past us, too easy to play against but with Townsend they struggle to get through. Thanks for agreeing, lonlwy place on here sometimes

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DannyITFC added 22:14 - Mar 14 I agree on comments ref Davis, going forward a quality player with a decent cross but hopeless at defending. Personally I feel the team would be far better balanced and tighter if Townsend played left back with Davis LW. We all know KM won’t do that though, Forrest will expose us down our left hand side and I can’t see anything but a convincing loss either way Wolves beating Southampton. By end of play tomorrow we will be 9 points adrift. Planning would for championship surely has already started, if Aston can convince the manager and better players I.e Delap to stay and give it a go at promotion next season then this squad will rip the Championship apart. Although CMs will need replacing and reinforcing as Morsey and Luango are on borrowed time now. Interesting times ahead this summer, we will see just how ambitious the owners and Ashton really are I guess. Personally I think he will keep most of the squad together and bring some smart additions in for a serious promotion push next season. I just hope the lads start playing with more freedom and less fear now and at least go down fighting.

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PhuketPete added 02:33 - Mar 15 I think we need more Ukrainian fans!! They’ve had their backs to the wall for three years against a horrible bunch of thugs and criminals but do they ever talk of giving up or fighting in future to only defend a second division, cut-down version of their country? No. We on the other hand, sitting in comfort at home wherever that is, have nothing of a life or death nature to fear - so what do some do? Spend every waking minute posting about what they’d do better than Keiran or about what players we’ll have next season in the Championship. Or moaning about Leif. If it’s not Leif at LB it’s one of the Bennies at RB, or it’s Wes, Jack, Jaden getting stick on the wings. Clearly some fans have already surrendered. I’m thankful KM and the players haven’t..!

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Leejames99 added 08:59 - Mar 15 @phucketpete I think comparing a football team playing football and peoples opinions on players with the horrendous war in Ukraine is inappropriate. It's just a forum for opinions and debate not a and no comparison to people losing their lives and homes and everything destroyed, bit ridiculous that. You talk about players and manager with first names like you know them, are you Ed Sheeran in disguise? Haven't given up the fight, hmm well time will tell but win lose or draw, relegation or maintain Prem status we are certainly not anything like the situation in Ukraine. And lastly if people post morni g noon and night, you must be on the forum at those times too to acknowledge that. A battle in football terms yes compared to a 3 year war absolutely not.

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delias_cheesy_flaps added 16:27 - Mar 15 No we're not increasingly competitive, far from it. In fact we're getting worse, and we're almost certainly getting relegated. That's not blowing smoke up your chuff either, unlike the guff spoken in this article by KM.
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delias_cheesy_flaps added 16:27 - Mar 15 No we're not increasingly competitive, far from it. In fact we're getting worse, and we're almost certainly getting relegated. That's not blowing smoke up your chuff either, unlike the guff spoken in this article by KM.
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