Rovers finished in the division’s top ten in 2022/23 and 2023/24, narrowly missing out on the top six on both occasions.
They recorded their best league result since relegation from the Premier League in 2012 under Jon Dahl Tomasson. Until December, they looked set to make another push for promotion through the play-offs.
However, a bad run allowed them to avoid relegation on the final day of the season, finishing 19th overall.
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Hyam, who captained the team last season after Lewis Travis’ move in January, hopes Rovers can compete again at the right end of the table this season.
“It goes without saying that Blackburn Rovers are too big to be at the bottom of the Championship,” he told RoversTV.
“We want to look up and aim for the top end of the table rather than the bottom. It was a pretty unrecognisable place for Blackburn but we’re hoping to have a much better season.”
“The Championship is a yo-yo division and no one has the right to be anywhere. The table doesn’t lie and you have to work hard and achieve victories. “They have been very contrasting seasons for me and I hope we can climb positions.”
Rovers began pre-season this week with John Eustace using Academy players to get a better overview of which players could make the step up.
The coach hopes to strengthen his squad in the transfer market and take advantage of the preseason as an opportunity to establish himself in his style of play.
Rovers have another 10 days before two 60-a-side games at Accrington Stanley on July 6. There will also be a behind-closed-doors match against Tranmere Rovers before traveling to Austria for a week.
“It’s huge, you need to build strength,” Hyam said.
“It’s an exhausting season, there are a lot of up-and-down games and you have to be prepared for it. If you can get through the preseason without problems and overcome most of the physical work, you give yourself a solid foundation for the season. That’s what I will try to do “.
“It’s an unknown, a little anxiety, but all the boys are ready to return. You have six decent weeks off and for the last two weeks your feet get itchy and you start thinking about football again. “This is what we all love to do and we are happy to be back.”
He added: “The coach wants to implement his ideas and transmit his tactics and thoughts. In training there is not much that can be done and we have pre-season matches to show what the coach has transmitted to the players. Hopefully, at the beginning of August we will be ready to go.”
