Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna says he is 'under no illusion to the scale of task ahead'.
The Northern Irishman replaced Paul Cook in the hot-seat back in December and, despite overseeing major improvements in the quality of football on show, his record of W11 D9 L4 was only enough to secure an 11th place finish in League One.
“That’s obviously not where we want to be, but that’s the reality of the situation," he said.
“The club has been in League One now for three seasons. It’s been an 11th place finish, a ninth place finish and this season it's 11th again.
“I’m sure when Ipswich came down to this league they wanted to get back out of it at the first attempt, but they weren’t able to do that.
“I think everybody has learned more about the division over that time. In my few months here I’ve learnt more about the division.
“Nobody at the club is under any illusions about the scale of the task we have ahead.
"Just because we have a great history, a great fanbase and a great support it gives us absolutely no divine right to win football matches in this division.
“There are a lot of big clubs in this division, clubs who have been in the Premier League and Championship more recently than us and for a lot more years than us.
"The fantastic support and heritage that we have at the club doesn't give us any more right than them to get out of the league this year or next year.
“It’s only by making good decisions day-by-day, following a plan, building strategically and cleverly, that we’ll give ourselves a good chance to win more matches than the club have done in any season so far in League One and make steps in the direction we want to go in."
McKenna added: "We’re back around the middle of June, so we’ll get a good long pre-season. That’s something I’m really looking excited for. It’s going to be an invaluable time for us.
“We are planning to do a training camp at Loughborough University and we think we’re going to have a really good fixture programme against a variety of opposition that will hopefully prepare us well for a good start.
“Hopefully we’ll do all the right things, on and off the pitch, and give ourselves the best chance of having a better season than the ones we’ve had in recent years."
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