Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna says there's a positive spin to put on the club having been relegated with four games to go.
The Blues' first Premier League season in 22 years ended with a 19th place finish, an encouraging start having disappointingly petered out in 2025.
Town's fate was mathematically confirmed with a 4-0 defeat at Newcastle on April 26, though the writing had looked on the wall following the 2-1 home loss to Southampton back in early February.
Asked if that had provided an advantage in terms of planning for next season, McKenna replied: “I think, yeah, we are in a better position than if we had been playing West Ham on the last day and everything was still open.
"We're in a better position now because we've already had the conversations with our players and with other clubs' players that we'd like to acquire.
"Not that everything is done and dusted, but we're a lot further down the line than we would have been.
"We'd rather have taken it it to the last day, of course, but had things been settled then then the turnaround would have been really, really, really quick what with the Premier League season finishing a lot later than the Championship season.
"We've tried to use the time well. We've worked really hard in the last few weeks, trying to put plans in place for the squad and for the club for next year.
"It means that we're going into the summer, I think, with pretty good clarity and confident in where we'll be at in pre-season."
Ipswich are likely to announce their retained list by the end of this week, with the transfer window opening on Sunday.
The Blues have already been installed as the bookies' favourites for promotion next season ahead of Southampton, Sheffield United and Birmingham.
The 2025/26 fixture list will be announced four weeks from today (June 26), with the big Championship kick-off scheduled for the weekend of August 8-10.
