O'Shea: We Believed in Ourselves, We Always Thought We Could Do It
Sunday, 3rd May 2026 10:48 by Kallum Brisset

Town captain Dara O’Shea says there was always the belief that the Blues would be promoted to the Premier League, and that dealing with external pressure has been one of the biggest challenges to overcome.

Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers on the final day sparked joyous scenes at Portman Road as Town secured a second-place finish to book an immediate return to the top flight.

Heading into the season, the Blues were favourites to bounce back, and O’Shea says he knew that there would be a target on their backs from the outset.

“Nobody wanted us to do it this year, everybody wanted to see us fail,” he said. “I’m just proud of us. We believed in it, we always thought we could and we proved it to ourselves.

“There’s pressure there with everybody expecting us to go up and they want to see us fall. We didn’t, we walked the walk which is the most important thing.

“It’s the polar opposite to last season so it’s different. It takes a while to get used to it. We had to understand that teams were happy to just disrupt us in whatever way they could this season, and it probably took us a while to get used to that and come to terms with it.

“I think we’ve done unbelievable. It’s been a difficult season and it’s nice to get it over the line.

“You look at the teams that came down with us last season, Southampton are doing brilliant now, but Leicester find themselves in League One. It’s tough and not easy, nothing’s given to you.

“Everyone expects Premier League teams to come back and to step back up straight away, but it’s not like that. We’ve done it and that’s all that matters.”

Having joined the club off the back of promotion two seasons ago, O’Shea has experienced a year in the Premier League with Town that ultimately ended in relegation.

Not only does the Republic of Ireland international now get another crack at playing in the top division, but the prospect of doing so as captain for the first time will fulfil a lifelong ambition.

He said: “It’s what I wanted as a kid. You dream about playing in the Premier League, and then to captain is the pinnacle.

“It’s going to be special. I love leading out these boys, it’s amazing, they give me a lot and I try to give them as much as I can. I’m really looking forward to it.

“It’s so exciting. The Premier League is where all of us want to play and we get to go back there now. Hopefully we can do what we set out in the season we didn’t.

“Get this club back to where it should be, and that is the Premier League. It’s a massive club with an amazing fanbase and it deserves that.”

Asked if he feels the Blues are better placed for the top flight this time around, O’Shea added: “I think so. The club’s rise was so quick last time that it was always going to be hard to match the ambition with the infrastructure and so on.

“I think we’re in a good place. There’s a lot of lads who have experienced the Premier League now and stepping back into it.

“We’ve learned a lot about ourselves this season, so hopefully we can take all the lessons this year because there’s been lots of them, and take it into next year.”

Photo: IMAGO/Every Second Media via Reuters Connect

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MVBlue added 10:58 - May 3 wow that is some picture
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Essexnblue added 11:20 - May 3 Very honest interview, player of the season for me also. Struggled to emulate Morsy at first, but if we establish ourselves next season then he will be the greater captain.
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DifferentGravy added 11:21 - May 3 Oshea has played really well. Particularly since the wrexham games and has lead by example. He is one of the players that can definitely make the step up into the Premiership.
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Bazza8564 added 11:35 - May 3

I agree with EssexNBlue and Different Gravy in terms of his improvement as Captain of late, let face it, it was always going to take a little while to step into Sam's shoes.

But Improvement is the key thing for me with this group of younger players. Taylor, Philogene, Clarke, O'Shea, Greaves, McAteer and Walton. If they were here last season, stey all stepped it up after their first McKenna preseason. Walton and McAteer got better and better as the season went on, Matusiwa took mayve one game to get going, it was absolute vindication to recruit younger players.

Next season i hope Dan Neil and Sindre Walle Egele will benefit from experience too. I don't see us buying double digits again, I think 4-6 really high impact players down the spine, and thats it.

So proud of them!

TimmyH added 13:29 - May 3 I think O'Shea is our best consistent defender and in my opinion deserves to be starting next season, only quip I have with him is those short passes out of defence quite often go pear shaped. Well done all...
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blueoutlook added 13:38 - May 3 Bassa, don’t see Egeli in the side next season,loan to a championship club I would think. We won’t sign Dan Neil, he simply isn’t good enough for what we will need. Think you will be in for a shock,can see at least 8-10 new signings for next season.
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slobfeatures added 16:51 - May 3

Last time out in PL we were knocked over so many times - literally. Both Clarke and Philogene for all their abilities kept falling over when challenged by burly defenders. When you see all the barging and bumping especially at set pieces we really need to step up a level. The Xhaka comments are all on the button. We need someone who can see a pass and execute it. We also need a striker who can think. It seems as if Hirst only scores when he hasn’t got time to think about what he will do. Otherwise he invariably makes the wrong choice. Problem is though where are all these great strikers, how much do they cost and do they really want to come to Suffolk?

MVBlue added 20:25 - May 3 Delap bought back for £30m and a quality Dutch striker with pace and power for £30m too should help. Plus our Xhaka, a proper midfield pro or Hayden Hackney £40m. Plus a wiley central defender £30m. Dara has really grown well like him as Captain now.
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armchaircritic59 added 20:46 - May 3

I don't want to really get too much into the recruitment side of things right now, as I believe it's time for a bit of reflection and enjoying the moment. It will happen quick enough that's for sure. However given our record in the " Dutch market " over the years, it might not be a bad idea to pursue that as a proper area of interest. Seems we have S.America covered now. I'd like to see a presence in S.Asia, untapped riches there in my opinion. Oh and just to kick the stereotyping into touch, not all S.Asians are 5ft nothing. Shorter or taller, there's a lot of players out there with really good technique. Some have of course found their way into teams around the globe now, and rightly so. It is most definitely going to be an interesting summer. The window doesn't open till June 15th, by which time I expect we will have been linked with half the available players around the world and of course most of it will be total garbage!

Bazza8564 added 09:01 - May 4

Blueoutlook, I personally think we will offer Neil a deal, we will need depth in the squad, but I don't think he will be a starter for sure. On Sindre, this an interesting one, I don't think the Championships high "rough and tumble" style suits him, I actually think he will be better suited to the PL and that Kieran will develop his game much more by keeping him here. He might well move and play as a ten, but he won't be an obvious starter either.

Slowly, we will put together a 25 man squad where Sindres potential and qualities will be the baseline. He's been in the 20 man squad for 90% of the season for a reason, at 19 he's the same age as most of the lads in the U21s, so the club obviously see something in him