Town boss Kieran McKenna says there’s no magic recipe to call upon going into the final couple of games of the season with work with the squad over the course of the campaign what he believes will see his side to their third promotion in four seasons.

The Blues need to take three points from their two final matches, at Southampton on Tuesday and at home to QPR on Saturday, to confirm their return to the Premier League after only one season away.

Asked how he keeps the mood at a steady equilibrium going into two such big matches, McKenna said: “You just take the first game first of all, which comes around quick. You just have to stick to your process because the games are coming so quick.

“It’s not like we have a week to sit around and think about the next game and build it up, it’s getting into the preparation and getting ready for another really tough game. It’s just following that routine.

“Of course, you encourage them to stay as far way from as the external noise as they can and just really focus on the next game, on the next opponent. Try not to think too much about the outcome, just think about the details within the performance that will give us the best chance. And that’s where our focus has been all year.

“But, of course, you’re dealing with human beings and it’s impossible to block everything out and you know there’s a little bit of that external noise and that’s going to touch them and they’re all super-motivated to be successful, so it’s going to be that extra bit of tension going into the games.

“But that’s the privilege of this stage of the year. If we were sitting in a really different spot there would be less tension or a worse type of tension, so this is what you want at this stage of the season, you want to be competing for your goals and we worked really hard to be in that spot, so we want to go and make the most of it.”

Reflecting on Saturday’s 0-0 draw at West Brom when asked whether nerves might have been creeping in, McKenna added: “There’s always nerves at this stage of the season, there’s no doubt about that. It was a tough game for many, many different reasons that I spoke about, it was always going to be that.

“And we know it wasn’t our best performance of the season but, at the same time, I thought we were good value for a point. It was a really important point, in reality it was an important game not to lose and a very losable game, to be honest, with a strong opponent on the day.

“A clean sheet at this stage of the season was important, a point that takes us closer to our goals and sets us up well for this week.”

Having been through two promotions in his time with the Blues already, McKenna was quizzed on whether there was something he can call on from those previous experiences which will play a role in the final couple of games.

“I don’t think so,” he considered. “I don’t think there’s a magic recipe for this stage of the year and thankfully we’ve been successful the couple of times we’ve been up at the top pushing for promotions.

“There’s no switch that you can turn on at this stage of the year to make all the tension go away or to make yourself guarantee the wins or anything like that.

“I think the best approach is that you try and build the group over the course of the year and build all the things you’re going to need to be successful.

“Of course, how you play is really important, but building up the trust and the confidence and the character and the resilience, all of those things in the group that really sustain you when it comes down to the final reckoning of the season.

“As you build that, you hope that that will shine through and will carry you over the line in the end.

“We think we’ve built that over the course of the year, but, for sure, it’s going to be tested this week and we have to find a win, which can sound easy, but tomorrow night’s a really tough game anyway, but Saturday as well, it’s really tough to win games at this stage of the year.

“We believe in ourselves, we’ve tried over the season to really build the group to be together, to be confident, to be resilient in these moments and I think we’ve shown that over the last few weeks.

“We’ve shown that with how hard we’ve been to beat of the last couple of months and we’re going to have to find another big push this week.”

Have the frequent away trips in recent weeks assisted the squad in coming together following significant changes of personnel last summer.

“It’s not about at this moment but, as I’ve said, over the course of the season,” McKenna continued.

“I think the togetherness, it’s not about togetherness off the pitch, being friends and stuff like that, the players have been good with each other all season, but the trust, the resilience in difficult moments.

“That has improved over the course of the year, there was evidence of that on Saturday, evidence of that at Charlton, evidence of it right through the last few months.

“It means that we arrive in this last week, I know we’re not, and I don’t think any team is ever, the finished article but we know we’re certainly not it.

“Right the way through to the last game, I think we’re still going to be learning and growing as a group and going through things for the first time together.

“But those qualities have come through over the course of the season and it puts us in a strong position, it’s why we are where we are, it’s why we’ve earned the right to compete for it on the last week.

“And it’s going to take good performances, it’s going to take a lot of character and I think that’s been shown, that’s been developed over the course of the season.

“I know the players really want to step up and do everything that they can, whether they’re starting or whether they’re on the bench or not in the squad.

“They all want for themselves, for their families and for the supporters to make this an incredible and historic week for the club, and everyone is prepared to do whatever they can to help that happen.”

Photo: TWTD