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Pre-season favourites for promotion, Ipswich’s squad had to be remodelled extensively during the summer as the likes of Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson were sold on and the new side took time to gel.

Winless in August, a home defeat by Charlton Athletic in October – their only defeat at Portman Road all season – left them down in 13th.

But McKenna’s side found their groove in December as they did the double over runaway champions Coventry, with their 2-0 success at the CBS Arena arguably the best display in the league all season.

That was part of their best spell of the season – four straight wins – but the Suffolk club could never quite put together the decisive run of which they seemed capable.

Just as importantly, though, Ipswich have only lost three of the past 25 games and one of the past 15 with that consistency of picking up points proving too much for the sides below them.

Victory over Birmingham City on Easter Monday pushed them into the top two for only the second time during the campaign as they capitalised on Middlesbrough’s total loss of form at the wrong time.

A 2-0 success away to Norwich City completed an East Anglian derby double for the first time in 33 years and was another high point.

If people expected them to cruise to promotion from that point, it did not materialise as a shock loss at Portsmouth was the start of one win in five games, although that included four away matches.

Yet, they never lost control of their own destiny and this home fixture always looked a favourable one to get the job done, which they duly did.