Boss Kieran McKenna says it’s clear Town are better prepared for the Championship than they were when they won promotion from League One two years ago.

The Blues made a remarkable climb from League One to the Premier League in two seasons but this year have found the leap one too big to bridge and next year will be back in the Championship again.

“I think that's clear,” McKenna said when asked whether the club is more prepared now for the Championship than it was following promotion from League One. “Again, there's time for answering these questions down the line. I'm sure the lads who will be here in the summer will fire plenty of those.

“We went up to the Championship with, you can say, pretty close to the same squad as got promoted from League One, and we got 96 points. 

“That was an incredible achievement. Next year will be different. It's a different context of the season. It's a different challenge going into it as a newly relegated team and everything that brings.

“The way that it was done last year, I don't think will be done again in terms of how much that group achieved. You can, I think, reasonably say overachieved.

“Next year will be a completely different challenge. It will be an exciting and positive one to take on, and we'll deal with that as it comes. To be honest, at the moment, it's Everton and Brentford. Trying to find a way to compete as well as we can on Saturday and then try and finish in the high end the last three.”

Asked what he can take from the next four games with regards planning for next season, he added: “I don't think it's so much about that, to be honest. It's a different competition, a different level. There'll be changes in the group next year, starting this year, and the summer is a reset.

“It's not necessarily about that. It's more about there are four games left in the first season back in the Premier League for 22 years.

“We want to finish as strong as we can, especially for our supporters with the support that we've had, we want to do that justice with the efforts that we put on the pitch.

“I know for the players on an individual level they're all desperate to do as well as they can, they all want to get as many minutes as they can, and they all want to compete as well as they can.

“The motivation is high, but it's more about finishing the season as well as we can. We'd like to be in a stronger position in terms of availability to be honest.

“We've had a few challenging weeks on that and we'd really like to feel in a position to be firing on all cylinders and have a real swing at it. That's been a test to get to that level, but that's what we're going to try and do over the next few weeks and finish as well as we can.”

TWTD

flykickingbybgunn added 16:12 - May 1 Looking forward to the remaining games with a relaxed frame of mind. Excited about next year because if we lost half the squad we would still be in a better position than a year ago.
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carlo88 added 16:25 - May 1 I'm not actually convinced we are actually. Some of our most effective players (midfielders) are really getting on now, one or two of our best players will leave, but most importantly we'll not have the high of a previous promotion, quite the opposite. Mind you, KM has confounded expectations before so hopefully he can do it again.
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Cakeman added 16:39 - May 1 Agree with you carlo88. Also the players that got us to the Premier and who have been playing bit part roles in The Premier may not have the same drive they did before knowing that new signings will relegate to the bench again. I expect quite a few new additions and I believe it will be necessary. For me the key will be to start again in midfield. We need a new unit of players in there that can influence defending much better than what we have this season and in parts last season too.

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Leejames99 added 16:52 - May 1 I think the majority of this seasons signings will go, he sold them on coming to Town but aside Delap they have all been played out of position or been on bench while league 1 lads play. They are all mates from Hull, England u21s and ROI and if one goes they all will. If Mckenna stays I think Delap, Phillogene, Greaves,Sicker, Johnson, Hutchinson, Burgess, Tunazabe all go. I think the ROI players stay O'Shea, Ogbene, Taylor, Szmodics and wouldn't be surprised to see more arrive. I dont think many players come in because he rates his players to highly. With Mckenna his likely 11 at start of season Palmer H Clarke O'Shea Woolfenden Davis Morsy Humphries Ogbene J Clarke Szmodics Hirst If Mckenna goes then I think the league 1 signings go plus Delap maybe.

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TimmyH added 16:53 - May 1 2 good posts above...momentum is a big contributor to getting promoted to the Premiership, we don't have that now as as the posts above state midfield is getting a bit long in the tooth even with Burns ACL tear might not be the same player and other players that got us promoted only have played bit parts so it does feel like it will be a well changed team and the midfield might need a reset...Philogene and Clarke will also have some expectancy on their shoulders.

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Northstandveteran added 18:50 - May 1 Agreed McKenna. Premier experience, parachute payments, we'll give next season a proper go. There is no way we'll do a Luton. Let's return with some real intent.
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SickParrot added 19:07 - May 1 Subject to which players leave in the summer and who we bring in to replace them, we should have a stronger squad on paper than two years ago. However, as Carlo88 points out, instead of the momentum of a high scoring promotion behind us we start next season on the back of relegation and winning very few games. Conversely expectation will be higher than last time. We will probably be favourites to win the league and all our opponents will relish the opportunity to beat the ex Premier team. It's going to be very tough to bounce straight back.

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Bert added 12:30 - May 2 Better prepared in terms of what to expect but we had momentum from two promotions.
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