“Because nobody really expected us last season to be there, obviously now, if we finish fifth, on paper it would be a step back,” he said today in an afterview with The Press Association.
“It’s going to be difficult for us this season because people will expect things from us and we have to produce them.
“It’s going to be a more difficult season because people will be afraid of us now a lot more than they were afraid of us last season, and we have to do at least the same thing and be a top-four side.
“That’s very, very tough because we have to compete with the likes of Chelsea, Leeds, Spurs and those kind of sides.