Town manager Roy Keane has hinted that midfielder Lee Martin could play a role in the final weeks of the season. The former Manchester United man has been out of the first team picture for much of the season with Keane admitting that the 23-year-old’s time at Portman Road has been a disappointment so far.

The Blues boss said: “It’s not happened for Lee this year. Sometimes as a manager and a staff you look at why it hasn’t quite happened. We gave him a taste at the start of the season in a couple of positions and he had a run out at Watford early doors.

“You ask that question about any player where it’s not quite happening. As much as we look at ourselves, the same with Tamás Priskin, the players sometimes have to look at themselves.

“But we don’t give up on anybody, we work every day. Lee trained very well yesterday. The training is fantastic but ultimately we’re going to judge him on what happens on a Saturday and it’s not quite happened for him, there’s no getting away from it.

“Lee knows that and he’s been reminded that we expect more from him. Lee’s a talented player, but as I’ve said before, particularly in the Championship, you need more than talent.

“We’d be expecting a lot more from Lee over the next few games, because there’s no doubt that he could be involved.”

Martin joined the Blues for a fee believed to be close to the £2 million mark last summer, signing a four-year contract.

Photo: Action Images

BoxerBlue added 12:13 - Apr 17 Too right come on lee show us what u got !! COYB
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Zipster added 12:19 - Apr 17 The kid is obviously talented, he is a confidence player and after a poor start he was low on confidence. He needs a run of games to build that back up and could be a key player for us next season. Stick him in for the last few games!
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tom_the_blue added 12:37 - Apr 17 Lets hope he does well and can play on our left wing next season. Good luck Lee!!!
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jamie22 added 12:46 - Apr 17 As most people know, he obviously has some skill and talent albeit he is a bit clumsy sometimes with the ball! I think his main problem is he needs to be cleverer, with his skill and decent pace he could get round people but defenders find it easy to just block him! But come on Lee and good luck to ya!
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pottyblue added 13:26 - Apr 17 came on for ten mins last home match i thought he did well
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Mark added 14:09 - Apr 17 As Martin played for Man Utd in the final game of last season and looked a good young prospect, I was looking forward to him coming here on a free transfer due to being out of contract. However, suddenly he cost us £1.5M and now the article above says close to £2M. If he's on say £12,000 a week over four years that is £2.5M, so a total cost of £4.5M. I'll stop writing now as I'm starting to feel sick!

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itfc1981 added 14:17 - Apr 17 Dont worry Mark, I've just chunderd for you.
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SurreyITFC added 17:29 - Apr 17 Where was Martin today? The only way we will see the best of him is by playing him so as he get match fit. If he trained well yesterday why was he not included?
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PimsNumber1 added 18:24 - Apr 17 Good point stead14 . Martin is too lightweight for the roughouse CCC . May be ok in the PL as its more for the skilled player but he just gets knocked off the ball at this level. He needs to put some bulk on, like Connor , but that looks natural on his frame. I hoped we paid only 1 mill-1.5 for him but Phils edged it up a bit --oh no ! SAF saw keano coming on this one. Gave him a contract to get a fee , very astute especially as he is not very good.

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copamundial added 19:23 - Apr 17 Waste of money pure and simple don't care if he played for man utd ship him out
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blueherts added 12:13 - Apr 18 Complete waste of money He has had chances to prove himself and dont give me this too lightweight for Championship - ie he is not good enough i seen him for both town and reserves and I have not seen him have a good game
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StowTractorBoy added 13:04 - Apr 18 The bloke never was any good and never will be a la Healey. Ship them both out and take Murphy with you as well. Big big job for Roy in the summer.
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Mungo added 23:00 - Apr 18 I feel sorry for Lee Martin. He was trying so hard at the start of the season. I remember seeing him after the Crystal Palace game and he looked very down. If he had arrived on a free, then I think people would be much more patient with him. Sadly he didn't but when it became clear that we would have to pay a large fee for him, then we should have backed out of the deal. Man U simply made us look like chumps. Keane's pride insisted we go through with it and Clegg showed his naievity in putting the deal together. I think we are now stuck with Martin and he is now stuck with us, as I doubt anyone will be prepared to match his wages, which must be fairly high, even without paying a transfer fee. Hopefully he will come good next season.

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62WasBest added 23:41 - Apr 18 Whilst I agree with many of the comments I have to say Clive Woods was lightweight, but still very strong for his size. Guile maybe more what is missing along with a bit of patience rather than over-eagerness.
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