Ipswich Town: How Kieran McKenna guided Tractor Boys to immediate Premier League return

Ipswich Town have sealed an immediate return to the Premier League after a 3-0 final-day win over QPR secured automatic promotion from the Championship.

They went into Saturday's home game needing to match fellow challengers Millwall's result at home to Oxford and the victory over Rangers has seen Kieran McKenna mastermind a second Championship promotion in three years.

It is also a third promotion in four seasons on McKenna's managerial CV, but the first in which he has had to pick a team up from setbacks while rebuilding a squad's personnel and playing style.

Two seasons ago, Ipswich were the surprise package that held off the threat of Leeds United and Southampton among others to finish second in their first season back in the Championship.

This season, they started as a club with Premier League parachute payments like Leeds and Southampton were before them and were many pundits' favourites to bounce straight back with the budget and weight of spending behind them.

That added pressure has been reflected in a more pragmatic promotion push this time around rather than the pulsating and jaw-dropping ride supporters enjoyed in 2023/24.

You can easily count on the fingers of two hands the number of jobs McKenna has been linked with in his time as Ipswich boss.

He perhaps came closest to departing Portman Road hot off the back of his double promotion exploits with jobs at Brighton, Chelsea and Man Utd more than just mere speculative links in the summer of 2024.

Even after Premier League relegation, he was once again linked with vacancies. Celtic came up more than once this season and he was even mentioned in conversations around Tottenham, West Ham and Bournemouth.

But his decision to stick at Ipswich and the backing he has received in the transfer market has been rewarded even if this campaign has felt like more of a grind than a victory lap at times.

Compared with the 2023/24 season where they amassed 96 points, Ipswich have only mustered 84 this time around. Wins have been harder to come by on the road than at home and their longest winning streak has only stretched to four games.

Ipswich racked up 92 goals in their last promotion season compared with 80 this term.

While clean sheets have risen largely thanks to goalkeeper Christian Walton's performances, Ipswich have been top of the league for big chances missed (84 before the final game) as frontline strikers George Hirst and Ivan Azon have only netted 16 times between.

Forwards Jaden Philogene and Jack Clarke have led the way on 12 and 16 goals respectively, even more impressive considering those two have rarely been on the pitch at the same time.

On top of all that, only two games have been won all season from going behind, both coming in April. Opponents have been wiser and sharper to their style this time around and Ipswich and their fans have had to show patience more often than not.

After the highs of back-to-back promotions from League One and the Championship in McKenna's first two full seasons in charge, a humbling experience in the Premier League followed last season.

Ipswich could only register four top-flight wins as they finished second from bottom and were never realistic survival candidates.