Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna believes gap between Premier League and Championship is ‘getting bigger’

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna has been reflecting on the size of the challenge ahead of clubs that are promoted to the Premier League.

The Tractor Boys – like fellow promoted sides Southampton and Leicester City – are already preparing for next season in the Championship after having their relegation confirmed last weekend.

And it was the same story last term when Luton Town, Sheffield United and Burnley all dropped back into the second tier just 12 months after going up.

“As I've said before, the gap is certainly big and getting bigger,” said McKenna.

“It's clear for everyone to see what was pitched as maybe the highest level top end of the Championship ever last season. Three teams with 90 plus points for the first time – two of whom were really established Premier League clubs over the last decade and Leeds, who didn't manage to make it as well in the mix.

“And those three teams have all fallen short for different reasons this year. So it's clear that the gap is big. Of course, when that happens for two seasons in a row, that's 17 teams then who have two full seasons of Premier League money and everything that comes with that. And it makes it harder for everyone to catch up.”

But despite coming up short at the top level, McKenna is confident that Ipswich will return to the Championship in rude health.

He added: “I think we'll be in a much stronger position going into next season than we have been for the previous years and certainly the previous years at Championship level.

“But I'd even like to think that as a squad and infrastructure and staffing and everything, we'll be in the strongest position we've been in, irrespective of league, for I don't know how many years. So we're on our own journey and we're going to try and keep progressing the club in every way.

And we hope that, of course, that will ultimately lead to establishing ourselves in the Premier League. But it's day by day and step by step. And we know what our next steps are now and we'll get ready for those in the summer and try and tackle them. We've still got a lot of belief that this club can keep progressing.”