Town boss Roy Keane has refused to comment on weekend claims that he made a loan enquiry regarding Hull City left-back or left midfielder Kevin Kilbane. The veteran Irish international is also being linked with Celtic and Bolton Wanderers.

Keane said: “I think it’s so wrong for managers to talk about players at other clubs. We’ve put in enquiries to a number of clubs about different players and we’re getting different feedback and that will continue over the next couple of days.

“It’s wrong to discuss players who are under contract, it’s not fair on the clubs, not fair on the players. We’ll wait and see, as I keep saying.”

The Blues boss says movement is more likely towards the end of the transfer window on February 1st: “It’s very quiet at the moment. We’ve had a busy time with the games but one or two phone calls have been put out and we’re still waiting for some feedback.

“If there are any players coming into the club or going, I expect it to be only one or two. I don’t expect major action here this week, but we know that one or two players could make a big difference to us and we’re still hopeful.

“I’m still talking to other managers, that goes on all the time. I was talking to an assistant manager the other day and we’ll know in the next couple of days if we’re going to carry on with the deals that we’re interested in and try and get them finalised.”

Keane says there have been enquiries regarding members of his squad with one move on the cards: “There may be one going on. It's a loan at the moment.”

The Blues are still wading through the paperwork relating to the signing of 19-year-old American trialist Devann Yao. Some of the clubs Yao was with as a youngster — Metz, Livorno, Pisa and St Mirren — are due compensation and the club are continuing to work through issues relating to that.

The winger is due to play in a behind-closed-doors reserves friendly later in the week after recovering from the bad cut to the calf he received in the Luton reserves game before Christmas.

New goalkeeper Brian Murphy may also be involved in that match if he is over his ankle injury. The Irishman is in with a chance of being on the bench against West Brom on Tuesday.

Town are set to be without skipper Jon Walters for the next couple of games due to the hamstring problem he picked up at Southampton, while Jon Stead will be back from his four-match ban.

Photo: Action Images

dreblue added 14:47 - Jan 25 they still needed to score 1 goal :-) and the fact that u dont remember, it shows how often that happens. Anyway..... I hope John scores a hat trick tomoro night. ha! Wouldnt mind been proved wrong then....
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brockleyblueboy added 14:51 - Jan 25 No offence dre but you are wrong on a couple of points there. Firstly the most ridiculous comment ever was Ron atkinsons racist slur when he was still on air. Secondly you alsso have to have a good defence to win. How many times in the past have we been the in the top 5 highest scoring clubs but alsso have had the worst defence. Like flude said 1-0 WINS will get you far. United all those years ago beat us 9-0 and how many points did they get? 3. I really suspect that you are a fan that jumped on the bandwagon when we got promoted back to the premiership and are only happy when we win and scoring freely and if we don't, you don't have the football mind to cope with it so you just complain "Oh he's rubbish and he is worthless etc etc" Can you answer me why John is so bad please?

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Surco72 added 15:19 - Jan 25 Superflude i keep stating the fact of 5 wins in 29 games cause that is how the season and the league is judged not on form at any one time throughout the season ,and to me as a supporter all games are important cup or not and i for one dont like losing to lower league teams or any games in fact and hearing them singing down to us on Saturday or their smug faces afterwards . And to me you just keep dismissing games to prove how good we are ,all games count to get a winning mentality,look what a cup run did for Burnley last year ? And super if as you say we need a nice balanced squad left back ,left midfield ,forward what the hell did we sign in the summer ? Are you now agreeing Martin and Priskin not up to it ? And Brockley i know i am being picky but if you thought John scored at the weekend you are seeing things !!!

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brockleyblueboy added 15:22 - Jan 25 I believe he scored quite an important goal against Coventry, the weekend didn't count as it was only the FA cup.
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superblueflude added 15:58 - Jan 25 Surco, I am aware Martin isn't up to it i've said agreed wth that all along, he's lightweight and needs toughening up, he's still young so could - could be good - lets see. and if you're saying that the league is based on the results stuff - why not wait until the end of season before saying this isn't good enough? Say for instance we won 90% of the remaining games would you still be moanin about the 5 out of how many etc? - or would you admit that it was a terrible start to the season but now we are improving. And talking about cups - cup runs do not help every team.

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Surco72 added 16:16 - Jan 25 Super i am stating on the position we are in now not what may happen as your arguement always seems to and if we do as you say i would be delighted ,but surely on the other hand what if we do not win 90% of the games and our little run now is the highlight of a very poor season why dont you wait until we are in a decent league position that you have been promising is coming all season before telling us how good we are and how well we are doing .

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superblueflude added 16:21 - Jan 25 End of day did we have a bad start - yes. Are things looking up - Yes prior to Southampton games were people starting to get happy again yes - once we lost has it gone back to we'v only won, we currently sit etc etc - and suddenly we forget the actuall loss %. Just support the town and forget the start of the season its over finished with its the future and look at football properly and not just how you'd like football to be played - if only we could buy a rooney a tevez a Torres but we wont, can't and never will do.

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brockleyblueboy added 16:30 - Jan 25 Flude I do believe you just hit the nail on the head. Far too many times we have a bad result and the fans are on the teams back and "they are terrible" and then the next week we get a good result and "the team is the best thing since sliced bread". Like blueflude says support the team. Yes everyone is welcome to their opinion but come on, things are getting better, we are 10 points off of a play-off place and things are looking up. Things don't turn around over night, it takes time. We are scoring goals from all over the park. Look at Chelsea and frank lampard. If everyone chips in then it won't matter with the strikers. Everyone was screaming for a striker and we went out and bought priskin. Fans were putting up videos of his strikes for watford and what a great prospect he is etc but bottom line so far it hasn't worked for him. We have the same possibility that that will be the case with another striker. we have to pick our targets carefully. COYB 1-0 win tomorrow.

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dreblue added 16:54 - Jan 25 For a start I am not complaining about Ipswich after them losing over the weekend. I am complaining at the possible signing on John. As i have already said I have always stayed confident this season and I am not worried. But at the same time that doesnt mean we cant have an opinion half way through the season!! I would love for us to win 90% of our games, and i strongly believe we can do it. As in regards to John, it frustrates me how we end up with players that are not good enough for people on our league but he is good enough for us? Yes he scored the other week, but apart from that he is lazy, old and I dont want someone representing town who doesnt have a passion to play for us. Yes i agree that he may be a slight influence in the changing room but i would rather spend his wages on someone else!!

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brockleyblueboy added 17:01 - Jan 25 I understand and respect what you are saying but each player is different. No one knows how they are going to settle i.e priskin (You could even look at Robbie Keane when he went to Liverpool for all of 5 minutes) Keane knows Stern John and he is also a close associate of Carlos Edwards so there is some reason that he was brought to the club. It would be nice if managers did come out and say why they signed players. I personally don't think we will end up signing anyone and I still believe that we will be there or there abouts come the last day of the season. However tomoorwo, which I apologise for deflecting away abit, is so so important. Any kind of result against the baggies would be decent. You never know tomorrow night may be the night it all clicks in and we absolutly batter them!

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ITFC1985 added 17:13 - Jan 25 BrockleyBlueBoy - werent those days in the old first division where we used to destroy teams at portman road some of the best times as a ITFC fan? ahh the memories :D
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brockleyblueboy added 18:00 - Jan 25 They were literally some of the best days (and tuesday night) games of my life. Personal favourite was the neil thompson last minute free kick against a portsmouth team that battled all the way with us. I do believe that as it went in the lights were already up and as th e ntet rippled a Prince song (all that glitters) cam on the PA! Ive been supporting ipswich for 20 years and although the play-off loses were disapointing the games during that season I wouldn't swap for anything. Not many teams have been as fortunate as us to have seasons like that and maybe that is why, as fans we are a little harder on the team because we want the good old days back. They will come again but a question for the old school: Would you rather have the kind of season where we destroyed teams, scored freely and then miss out in the play offs OR have a solid work ethic, grind out result and get promoted that way. I would persoanlly want both, but I don't think it will happen.

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jas0999 added 18:01 - Jan 25 Interesting discussion re Stern John. I can fully understand why Roy bought him in and more importantly why the loan was extended - Stead was going to be out for 4 games and John added another option. His style is interesting. It's fair to say he is not a prolific goalscorer and therefore I agree with some other posts we need to sign a goalscorer (but sadly they are few and far between unless we have a spare £5M!). I don't think John's loan spell has been a failure, although granted not one of the best players we have ever had. But he has put himself about, scored a crucial goal and set up another against QPR. Not a disaster by any means, but now Stead is back, would I keep him? No.

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Mark added 18:27 - Jan 25 I am aware that Welbeck and John are different types of player, my point is about the difference in quality of the two signings: Welbeck a 19-year old who has scored 5 goals for Man Utd and John 33-year-old Crystal Palace player who has not scored at all for his club (Palace) and who is behind Alan Lee in the pecking order. In my opinion pace and goalscoring - Welbeck's atributes - are exactly what we need! By the way, I agreed with the decision to keep John as cover for Stead's suspension. He has done okay in some matches, but if we are to progress we need much better quality than that. Surely the £1.3M we spent on Edwards would have been better spent on a goal scorer?

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cbower added 19:32 - Jan 25 Jas0999 and Mark have solid points. The loan of Stern John has not been a total failure and he has brought something to the team, just not the goals or pace that many of us desire. I also doubt that it would have been extended had Stead not been suspended but think the same may happen again due to Walters' hamstring problem. Keane obviously values his contribution but what worries me most is that he seems incapable of putting in a full 90 minute shift. This results in us having reduced options from the bench as it seems that John will almost certainly be substituted no matter how the game is going 'cos he's knackered after an hour! Someone with the pace and strength of Agyemang would have been interesting and I think the Welbeck deal for Preston is clearly a case of family ties combined with the fact that he will not really have to travel too far with Preston being less than an hour from Manchester. He may not have wanted to up sticks and move south either for a month or for the rest of the season. Finally, I like the fact that Keane has declined to comment on specific transfer targets and is playing it very cagey. He is learning and I for one am increasingly warming to his style.

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jamie22 added 19:36 - Jan 25 I'm with the John defenders! He holds the ball up and passes it on, his passing is very good, I know he definately has one assist maybe more though, and he has his goal. Keane is not an idiot, he did not bring in John for the goals, he hadn't scored in 32 games! John is a good link player, however saying all that I would rather have Pablo, who wouldn't though! I think if Stead gets on a role he could get this 20+ goals, probably not now but I think he has it in him! COYB, looking forward to the Preston game!

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denhamblue added 20:00 - Jan 25 seen john 4 times now,and to be honest ,does not offer much,and the buses,transporting the town fans,in the park and ride scheme at soton,had more pace than him,and that nearly broke down whilst trundling up the hills!
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ChambersM added 00:12 - Jan 26 we dont want kilbane! Look, preston have just got Welbeck! Bristol City now have Agyemang, both players that i wouldnt turn down...grrrrr keano, sort it out, keano keano sort it out!
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ChambersM added 00:19 - Jan 26 kuqi to swansea as well :@
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