Kieran McKenna will become the first Town manager to mastermind three promotions and two to the top flight if the Blues secure the points they need to return to the Premier League at the first attempt when they host QPR at Portman Road on Saturday afternoon (KO 12.30pm, Sky Sports Main Event).

Following the 2-2 draw at Southampton on Tuesday, Town are second, a point ahead of Millwall and two in front of Middlesbrough going into the season’s final round of matches.

A win would definitely take the Blues up but a draw or even a defeat may be enough depending on the Lions’ result in their game at home to already relegated Oxford United and Boro’s at Wrexham.

McKenna has already seen Town to the back-to-back promotions from League One and the Championship in 2022/23 and 2023/24, matching Sir Alf Ramsey’s Division Three South, 1956/57, and Second Division, 1960/61. No previous boss has won three promotions when in charge of the Blues.

The Northern Irishman, who has been in charge of Town since December 2021, has tried to treat Saturday’s big game like any other as much as possible, although admits it’s inevitable there will be a bit more of a buzz surrounding it.

Asked whether it’s possible to address it like a regular fixture, McKenna said: “It’s not impossible. Your preparation and your processes are exactly the same, so it’s not impossible at all.

“It is impossible to maybe not have a little bit of extra adrenaline, a little bit of extra tension going into the game, but we’ve also had lots of big games this year that felt similar and lots of big games over the last few years.

“Everything really stays the same in terms of how you prepare the game. Routines today, routines in the morning for a 12.30 kick-off.

“You accept the extra adrenaline and tension that comes around the game, but you also try and enjoy it. It’s going to be, again, an absolutely wonderful atmosphere in our stadium.

“It’s the third time in four years that we’ve had a home game to try and get promoted. It’s not lost on us the fact that these are special times and they’re special times to enjoy.

“So we’re really excited for it. We want to go and deliver a big performance, a big result and enjoy what comes after.”

McKenna, 39, says he and his staff have tried to keep a lid on the frenzy surrounding the match as much as they can with the players.

“We certainly don’t add to any of the hype,” he continued. “Of course, again, there’s no point pretending it’s not a big game. The players are going to feel an extra motivation, extra arousal for the game. They’ll hear a little bit more noise around it and that’s going to be there.

“It’s how you channel that. You want them to enjoy the occasion, but it’s important to deliver a performance tomorrow and everyone knows their roles, and that’s what we focus on from hereon in.”

Having been in much the same position two years ago and in the League One promotion campaign 12 months previously, McKenna says there are things he has used from those experiences as well as more recent games of a similar stature.

“I think you take the lessons right the way through the season and across the last few games,” he said.

“We’ve had a couple of last-day-of-the-season games and the main one is probably knowing how it’s going to feel, that there are going to be an extra few knots in your belly and everyone’s going to wake up a little bit earlier.

“But other than that, once you get down there, you enjoy the atmosphere and then you just focus in on the game.

“In terms of the outcomes, let’s say we’ve had two home wins with clean sheets [6-0 against Exeter in League One and 2-0 over Huddersfield in the Championship] and things have gone our way, and we scored the first goal in both games.

“And that’s what you really hope for tomorrow, the first goal, a top performance. But it doesn’t always go that way and I’ve seen many examples across football of the last day throwing up different instances and different things can happen in the game that can rock your best laid plans.

“So you go in there to try to deliver the best performance possible and really go and take the game. But you also go in knowing that it’s 95 minutes or so of a football match and different things are going to happen and you have to be ready for all circumstances.

“And that’s what you train for all year. That’s what you build towards all year. When it comes down to one home game at the end of the season, it’s a really exciting scenario and one you have to really enjoy.”

Similarly, Christian Walton, Leif David, George Hirst and Wes Burns will all win their third promotions with the club if Town are successful, joining John Elsworthy and Ted Phillips, who completed a similar feat under Ramsey and in 1953/54 Scott Duncan, the duo also going on to win the First Division title in 1961/62.

Quizzed on whether the quartet’s previous final-day experiences have been helpful in this week’s preparations, McKenna said: “It’s been a pretty short prep, to be honest. We got back at 3am on Wednesday morning.

“Sometimes that can be useful because it’s not like we’ve been here at the training ground all week and everyone’s speaking about what the game’s going to be like.

“We gave the players Wednesday off and then we’ve been in on Thursday and this morning preparing the game. And of course, it’s good to have a few of the players who’ve been here before on days like this.

“Things like the atmosphere around the ground before it, the brilliant things to enjoy. It’s not something we speak about a lot, but I’m sure in the dressing room, the boys who have been there will be able to notify the other players that it’s going to be a great atmosphere and the supporters will be right with us.

“But also, we’ve had big games this year. I know this one is extra significant, but the atmosphere from the first home game of the season, Southampton, was big, we had the Norwich game at home, which was a really big one and it was a massive one for the supporters looking for that first derby win in 16 years, right up to the Norwich away game atmosphere, to the game on Tuesday night [at Southampton]. 

“We’ve had a lot of big games now as a group and I think the understanding of what it means, what it takes in the group has grown across the season.

“It’s good to have a few of those boys, it’s good to have different experiences in the group, but the schedule has been so busy, the prep has been so busy, it’s kind of just pushing on to the next big game.”

McKenna wouldn’t be drawn on how he would feel if tomorrow goes as planned and the Blues are back in the Premier League come mid-afternoon.

“I’d rather leave any reflection stuff until tomorrow,” he said. “We’re not really allowing ourselves to think about what happens at three o’clock tomorrow with a positive outcome or a negative outcome, or what will it feel like. I don’t know what I’m doing on Sunday. There are no plans beyond the game tomorrow. 

“I’d say the significance of it for the club is not lost on us. We know this club’s had one year in the Premier League in the last 25 years and we’re desperate for everyone to achieve that this year, and we know what it means to everyone.

“But how that feels, what it would be like, any of those things, I think that’s for, hopefully, tomorrow afternoon. For now, it’s really honestly just focusing fully on the job.”

Pressed on whether he is proud to have got his team into this position, he again rebuffed: “I’m really going to avoid any questions that would lead me to debriefing or reflecting too much because of what we’ve got coming up.

“I know it’s been a really big, big challenge this year. From the outside, people won’t understand what a big challenge it is. I’ve lived it for the last few years here, so I know what a challenge it’s been to be where we are today. 

“It’s not been a perfect season. We’ve not been perfect, but I’m proud that we’ve stayed in it and given ourselves a real chance to the last day because I know the season could have gone in another direction.

“Other than that, we’re just focused on tomorrow and if we can manage to get the win that we want, then it’ll be time to reflect and look back on the year and everything we’ve learnt and things we’ve done well and things we’ve done better.”

QPR go into the final weekend 14th in the table, 11 points from the relegation zone and 12 from the play-offs.

The R’s are without a win in their last five, following a run of three victories on the bounce, among them a 6-1 defeat of Portsmouth.

They have lost their last three, 2-0 at Millwall, 2-1 at home to Swansea and last week 3-2 to Derby, also at Loftus Road, having been ahead twice.

Away from home, only eight teams have picked up fewer points than Rangers’ 25 from six wins, seven draws and nine defeats. They have won only twice on their travels since October.

Five teams have scored fewer than their total of 21 away goals and just five have conceded more than the 33 they have shipped on the road.

Inevitably, there have been suggestions that the visitors will be, to use the cliché, on the beach when they visit on Saturday, but McKenna isn’t happy with that characterisation.

“I don’t like that term, to be honest,” he continued. “I watched their game against Derby last week. I think they had 15 shots to one and nearly 70 per cent possession against a team challenging for the play-offs.

“I think they’ve got a very good manager [Julien Stéphan], a very professional manager. I’m sure that they’ve trained and prepared this week and they’ll be motivated to come and finish their season on a high in front of their away supporters and do themselves proud.

“So we’re prepared to face a good side tomorrow. They’ve had a good season, they’re in the middle of the table for a reason, and I say that in a positive manner. 

“You look at the strength of the teams at the bottom of the division and there’s a reason why they’ve not been anywhere near that all season — because they’ve got good players and they’ve got a very good manager.

“So, we’re prepared to face a good side. We’ve prepared the game as we would do and we respect their strengths and we’ll go into the game with humility.

“But also we know that over this season and a lot of seasons now we’ve been a really good side at Portman Road and we believe that we deliver our best performance with the supporters behind us, and we know that we can make it a really difficult game for anyone to play against us and give ourselves a good chance to win.”

Part of why Portman Road has been such a fortress, the Blues have lost at home just once this season and twice in the Championship since the start of the 2023/24 campaign, is the crowd, who McKenna says will have a significant role again this weekend with Blue Action staging another of their coach welcomes as the team arrives at the ground.

“They’re going to be massive,” he added. “They are all season, home and away, anyway, but I think days like tomorrow are even more so.

“I think it’s a special club, it’s a special supporter base and we know how significant this is for the club and for the whole region.

“I believe, and I know, that tomorrow we’ll be in full unison. Whoever we were playing against tomorrow, they were going to face a team full of motivation, a squad full of motivation and a full stadium that is going to be pushing them every step of the way. 

“We’re going to need them. It’s been an incredibly busy run, and incredibly busy season and we’re going into the last game in a position that we would have all taken, and we really believe and I know that they will help push the boys through every second of that game tomorrow, whatever happens on the pitch.”

Asked how much confidence he has in his players to carry out his plans and win the three points required tomorrow, McKenna said: “I’ve got a lot of faith that we’ll go out there and put in a strong performance and control the things that we can control. 

“There’s only limited faith that you can have in the game of football because it’s a random, low-scoring game and things can happen.

“It’s about the balance of both. It’s about being ready to go and deliver a strong performance. Maximum effort tomorrow is an absolute given, so it’s not about that, but it’s about being able to go out there in that environment and execute a performance.

“I believe that we’ll do that. I take confidence from Tuesday night, I take confidence from games we’ve had recently and over the course of the season that we’ve increasingly been able to do that in difficult circumstances.

“But again, we also know that it’s a football match and you can’t guarantee anything. So, we’ll control what we can control. I believe, and know, the players will give everything. I believe we’ve got a really strong performance in us and, hopefully, all the little margins will go our way, and that’ll be enough to get the result.”

Town and their fans may need to show patience at times on Saturday with the Blues probably needing all three points, whereas against Huddersfield they required just one and after the Exeter match had another game still remaining, but McKenna believes the support will grasp the situation.

“I’d like to think that they’ll understand that and they’ll be right with us,” he said. “You can’t rest on anything from the past. We had a once in a lifetime - and in not many people’s lifetimes - day against Exeter. 

“We played a Huddersfield team two years ago, who were already relegated and I didn’t even remember that we needed only a point, it certainly felt tense enough at the time. 

“I know tomorrow we’re facing a good Championship side, who have been competitive all season. I know they’ve not won in their last couple, but they were by a long, long distance the better team last weekend.

“They conceded a last-minute penalty against Swansea, who were in good form the week before. So this is a proper Championship game.

“And we’ve not had one easy Championship game at home this year. Sheffield Wednesday or Oxford, teams at the bottom, teams at the top, they’re all competitive. There are good players at this level in every team and good coaches.

“I hope we can go out and deliver a top performance and win the game with a margin tomorrow.

“But we look at all of the games at this stage of the season, they’re hard to predict. There are usually ups and downs, and we need to be ready for whatever comes.

“But what I do believe is that over 90-plus minutes at Portman Road, if we fully commit to the performance, if we’re brave, if we play to our intensity, to our identity and the players and crowd are together, really together pushing in the same direction, that it’s a really, really hard place to come and play against us. And that’ll give us a really good chance to win the game.

“So that’s all we can focus on. I know the supporters will understand that and will be right behind us and know that if we give the best account of ourselves over the 90-plus minutes tomorrow, then we’ve got a great chance.”

The Team

McKenna has virtually a full squad to pick from with only Conor Townsend, who has been out all season having suffered an ACL injury in pre-season unavailable.

Walton will be in goal with ex-QPR man Darnell Furlong at right-back, Davis at left-back and skipper Dara O’Shea and Jacob Greaves the centre-halves.

In central midfield, Azor Matusiwa will probably be joined by Jack Taylor, who is over the knee injury which saw him miss the Southampton match.

McKenna may well again switch most of his forward players, which would see Kasey McAteer, who has scored in his last two home matches, on the right, Marcelino Nunez in the centre and top scorer Jack Clarke on the right. Ivan Azon will probably again get the nod as the number nine.

The Opposition

QPR boss Stephan, speaking on Tuesday, said he may take a look at a few young players on the final day.

“Yes, probably,” he told West London Sport. “I need to know exactly who is available. We have two more sessions, Wednesday, Friday to decide exactly.

“I don’t know if Ipswich will win tonight against Southampton, if they win they will have a big chance to be promoted.

“If that’s not the case, it will be a crucial game for them, so to have an opportunity for our team, for our young players, it’s a very good experience and another one for the future, and we need to use that on Saturday, to play an important game against a strong opponent and use it for the future.”

The visitors have a few injury problems ahead of the visit to Suffolk with forward Rumarn Burrell, who scored in the Blues’ 4-1 win at Loftus Road, set to miss out having picked up a knock last week.

Ziyad Larkeche and Karamoko Dembele are long-term absentees, while Steve Cook is not expected to play a part having made his 100th appearance for the club at Swansea.

Amadou Mbengue came off at half-time last week but is understood to have travelled, while Jimmy Dunne has been absent since the start of April and Kwame Poku injured his hamstring against the Swans.

History

Town have won 32 of the previous encounters between the sides (30 in the league), Rangers 29 (26) and 20 (19) have ended in draws.

The Blues are unbeaten in the three games against QPR under McKenna - two away wins and home goalless draw - but their last Portman Road win against the West Londoners was under Mick McCarthy, a 3-0 success back in November 2016.

Town’s most recent defeat to the R’s was a 3-0 loss under Paul Lambert at Loftus Road in December 2018, while earlier that season, Paul Hurst’s Blues were beaten 2-0 at Portman Road as Rangers did the double.

Town ended last season with a 3-1 home defeat to West Ham, but the previous year they secured promotion to the Premier League with a 2-0 victory over Huddersfield. A season prior to that, they drew 2-2 at Fleetwood on the last day having thrashed Exeter 6-0 at home in their penultimate match the previous weekend.

Back in 2021/22, the Blues ended their season with a 4-0 romp at home to Charlton Athletic.

Last season, QPR beat Sunderland 1-0 away on the final day, having won 2-1 at Coventry the previous season. A year earlier, they lost 2-0 at home to Bristol City in their last game with a 1-0 win at Swansea a season prior to that.

In November at Loftus Road, Town comprehensively ended their wait for an away victory, Hirst and Nunez each scoring twice as the Blues beat QPR 4-1.

Hirst nodded Town in front after only 68 seconds from a Sindre Walle Egeli cross, before the home side levelled through Burrell on 21.

Sixty-eight seconds after the restart, Nunez smashed home a brilliant free-kick, his first goal for the club, then Hirst headed his second in the 57th minute, before the Chilean scored his second free-kick of the afternoon on 64 as Town claimed their first win on the road since the previous April.

The teams last met at Portman Road in December 2023 as Town ended a memorable year with a more forgettable 0-0 draw with QPR, the first time the Blues had failed to net in the league at Portman Road during the calendar year.

Town, shorn of several regulars through suspension, injury and illness, were never at their best with the visitors coming closest to breaking the deadlock when a Cook header struck the post and ran along the line before being forced away.

Familiar Faces

Blues right-back Furlong came through the academy at QPR, where his father Paul had been a player, and went on to make 65 starts and seven sub appearances, scoring two goals.

Town forward Clarke spent time on loan at QPR in the second half of 2019/20 while a Tottenham player, making one cup start and six Championship sub appearances without scoring.

Officials

Saturday’s referee is Gavin Ward, his assistants Alex James and Lee Venamore, and the fourth official Farai Hallam.

Ward’s most recent Town match was the 3-1 home victory over Birmingham City in February 2024 in which he yellow-carded Cameron Burgess, Sam Morsy, Massimo Luongo and one of the visitors.

The Surrey-based official was also in charge of the 2-0 defeat at West Brom in November the previous year in which he booked Morsy, Brandon Williams and one Baggie.

Earlier that season, he was in the middle for the 3-2 home victory over Plymouth in which he yellow-carded Luke Woolfenden, Luongo, Williams and George Edmundson as well as two Pilgrims.

Argyle were adamant they should have been awarded a penalty and Edmundson shown a red card after sliding in on Mustapha Bundu just before half-time, however, replays of the incident were inconclusive at best.

That was Ward’s second Town match that season having already visited Suffolk for the 3-2 home victory over Cardiff in which he booked Williams, Nathan Broadhead, Wes Burns, Harry Clarke and three Bluebirds.

He was also in the middle for the pre-season friendly against Luton at Colchester in the preceding summer, in which he kept his cards in his pocket throughout, and the 3-0 win at Peterborough in April 2023 in which he booked Morsy, Burns, Conor Chaplin and one Posh player.

Ward was in charge of the 2-0 home defeat to Rotherham in November 2021 in which he again yellow-carded Morsy and three of the visitors.

Before that, he refereed the 2-0 defeat at Fleetwood in March the same year in which he cautioned Gwion Edwards and two home players.

Prior to that he took control of the 3-2 home victory over Leeds in the final Championship game of the season prior to relegation in May 2019 in which he booked Kayden Jackson, Toto Nsiala and one White, and showed Blues captain Luke Chambers a late straight red card for a foul for which he also awarded the visitors a penalty.

Ward was also the man in the middle for the 6-1 pre-season thrashing at Charlton ahead of the start of the 2017/18 campaign and refereed the 1-0 away victory over the MK Dons in December 2015 in which he yellow-carded Chambers, Jonathan Douglas and Freddie Sears.

A month earlier he had taken charge of the 2-2 draw at home to Wolves in which he again cautioned Chambers and two visiting players.

Ward also took control of the 3-1 home victory over Cardiff in April of the same year in which he booked Cole Skuse, Tyrone Mings, Christophe Berra and two visiting players. Prior to that he refereed the 2-0 defeat at Rotherham that February.

Squad From

Walton, Palmer, Button, Furlong, Davis, Johnson, Young, O’Shea (c), Kipre, Greaves, Baggott, Matusiwa, Cajuste, Neil, Taylor, Clarke, Philogene, Nunez, Burns, Walle Egeli, McAteer, Mehmeti, Akpom, Hirst, Azon.

Photo: TWTD