By Andy Warren
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Boss on season-opener at Stadium of Light
Kieran McKenna is excited for the challenge ahead as Town begin their season at Sunderland.
Town open their Championship season at the Stadium of Light, in a televised Sky Sports game at 5pm on Sunday evening.
“We’re really excited and there has been a great energy about the place during the last few days,” Kieran told TownTV.
“We worked hard to get to this point, have had a good pre-season and everyone’s ready to go.
“The players are ready to work and know this is going to be a big step up – but they’re excited for that challenge.
“That starts against a big club in Sunderland who are a big club in a big stadium, but I see nothing at the moment other than excitement and a willingness to go and put in the work that’s required.
“We’re playing one of the best-supported teams in the country, not just in the EFL, so it will be a big and boisterous atmosphere. That’s the type of environment we want to test ourselves in because we worked very hard to get back to this level.
“These are the type of challenges we want and we can’t wait to get started.”
Sunderland are managed by Town legend Tony Mowbray and made the Championship play-offs last season, in their first campaign following promotion from League One.
“I’m sure they will look to continue the good work they did last year,” Kieran said.
“They are a young team and seem to be following a model of recruiting high-quality, young, players and they have done that well over the last few years.
“They are very well coached by Tony (Mowbray) and have a positive playing style with a good structure where players can express themselves.
“They did well last year and have recruited again from the same kind of model, so I’m sure they will be looking to have another positive season.
“For us it’s a really good test, which is what we’re going to be facing every week, but this is a good one to get started with.”