Boss Roy Keane felt the Blues were again made to pay for their failure to take their chances as his side slid to their sixth successive league defeat at Preston. Iain Hume’s second half strike gave the Lilywhites a 1-0 victory at Deepdale.

Keane said: “The first half was fine, no problem, but the game is 90-odd minutes long. We had good possession, we got into threatening positions, particularly in the first half and at the start of the second, but we don’t seem to be capable of scoring many goals, and that puts you under pressure constantly."

The Blues manager felt his side gifted the opposition another poor goal: “Repeating myself once again, we gave a soft goal away. It’s not as if teams are opening us up. After that we huffed and puffed without having that quality in the final third to get us back in the game.

“The second half performance was a bit disjointed. Once they’d got the goal they had something to hold on to, but we always expect more from the players, whether that’s in terms of creating that chance, that bit of quality, when in shooting positions hitting the target.

“But that’s been going on for a few months now, even last year. We don’t score many goals. Whether we play one up front or two up front, we don’t seem to have that little bit of quality in the box. And that’s the hardest part of football.”

Keane says there is no issue with his players’ application: “There’s no problem with the commitment and effort and possession, but you’ve got to score goals, and we don’t score enough of them.

“That’s nine defeats in 11 now and at any level in any league, in any country that is not good enough.”

The Irishman, showing signs of the return of the beard he sported during his latter days at Sunderland, still feels he can turn things around at Town but conceded that whether he will be able to is ultimately not up to him: “That’s out of my hands, don’t ask me questions I’ve got no control over.”

Preston manager Darren Ferguson, whose father Sir Alex was in the crowd, was pleased with the three points despite a poor beginning to the game: “We started really slowly, we couldn’t keep the ball well enough and they penned us in a little bit. It was a slow start and a nervy start.

“But we got a spell at the end of the first half of about 10 minutes where we got a lot of corners on the bounce and in the second half it was far, far better.

“I had to have a bit of a go at them at half-time, but they responded. We played really, really well in the first 20 minutes of the second half and that alone was enough to win us the game.”

As for Keane's current predicament, Ferguson said: “I don’t have to worry about Roy, he’s a very, very strong character. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Photo: Action Images

bobble added 11:30 - Dec 12 the 3rd tier supporters are the ones who supported keane over the last 2 years blindly and condemned and ridiculed anyone who stated the bleeding obvious that the man does not have a clue and is destroying our club........a few of us very few weren't blinded by celebrity waffle and could see on the pitch and on the scoreboard this man is a fake
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lunatic38 added 11:39 - Dec 12 i think that is a bit unfair bobble, any one deserves a fair crack of the whip especially at Ipswich with our patient tradition. The main point here is how long do you get at cracking the whip? and when do you realise that you have had your chance (which seems to be eluding Clegg and Evans) there should be no pleasure in "i told you so" because if Keane was successful would you have been so forthcoming? Let us all unite in chanting for Keanes head at any oppurtunity now and add to the pressure on this idiot before it is too late. ps and Clegg needs to be abused not let him sit in his smug little world whilst our football club falls down the drain, because when it is down the drain we will still support the blues but he will go and get a nice little number elsewhere(hopefully Narwich as director of football)

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lunatic38 added 11:41 - Dec 12 ps. Rumour is, Keane will realise his time is up and leave once Portman Road turns on him. So take a deep breath at the next home game and from the moment the gates open get in there and scream shout chant whatever but KEANO OUT!!! KEANO OUT!! KEANO OUT!!KEANO OUT!!! KEANO OUT!! KEANO OUT!!KEANO OUT!!! KEANO OUT!! KEANO OUT!!KEANO OUT!!! KEANO OUT!! KEANO OUT!!KEANO OUT!!! KEANO OUT!! KEANO OUT!!KEANO OUT!!! KEANO OUT!! KEANO OUT!!KEANO OUT!!! KEANO OUT!! KEANO OUT!!KEANO OUT!!! KEANO OUT!! KEANO OUT!!KEANO OUT!!! KEANO OUT!! KEANO OUT!!KEANO OUT!!! KEANO OUT!! KEANO OUT!!

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tractorboy2434 added 11:56 - Dec 12 Remember when Curbs was sacked it took him ages to sort out his compo and he could,nt work in the meantime, I think Hughton will be the same, until he gets his payoff agreed by Newcastle then he will not take a job elsewhere so he won't be coming here any time soon. I fear that as Evans clearly does'nt want to pay him any compo then he will wait until the end of the season, the only hope is that RK resigns, that will depend on whether he wants another job because he is'nt likely to get one if he walks ! I think we may have to go down to see any changes, Clegg and Evans clearly think that won't happen, but the form table suggests that we are not too good to go down, we are favourites at the moment.

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bobble added 12:11 - Dec 12 unfair your kidding ! how can it be unfair to state the truth/whats really unfair is that our club is destroyed and the idiot keane will stroll off with a big bag of cash..........you think thats fair ?
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Keaneish added 12:18 - Dec 12 Lunatic - i think we should go the over way and no-one turn up. An empty Portman Road is more of a deafening statement than 20,000 baying for blood.
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osborne1nil added 12:21 - Dec 12 Hey Clegg, I hope you are keeping count. That is 6 on the trot, 14 to go to reach your desired to games for dismissal (it will be too late). If you can't put on a good performance against the bottom team on a bad run too then next weeks game against Leciester looks worrying. Sven v Keane, oh dear. The cost of getting rid of RK has surely got to be less than dropping to Div 1 and if we get in one of the freely available Managers there is no compensation to pay to another club. Not sure on Hughton as his Managerial career is short and did have a good team to bring Newcastle back up but agree would be an improvement over Keane (but that is not saying much)!

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blues1 added 12:47 - Dec 12 its long past the time 4 Keane 2 go, shld have gone long time ago. not jst bcse we losing games, but the style of football he has us playing, the tactics, team selection, substitutions, etc. how does a player know where he stands if he dropped however he plays. agree with most of the names mentioned as potential replacements, but please, george burley????? he abt the most sacked manager in football(must b a reason 4 that). yes he did well 4 a time here but soon as he had money 2 spend he lost the plot,& was partially responsible 4 putting us in2 administration by his poor signings. will always b grateful 4 the good times he did give us, but , not go bck 2 him. wld b a big mistake.

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moomoosereni added 13:46 - Dec 12 I will openly admit that I am not brave enough to start a chant of Keane Out at PR. Just purely because of the backlash some of the stupid Keane followers will give. But if someone is reading this and is brave enough to do it, start the chant at PR on saturday and I am sure people will follow! This saga has to end, and if there is just the slightest chance that Keane will resign if he knows the fans have lost faith (how he doesnt think that already is beyond me) then we should start making it painfully clear on Saturday before, during and after the Leicester game. Keane Out.

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GiveusaWave added 13:58 - Dec 12 1-0 was extremely flattering to us. This was the worst we have played so far, totally hopeless hit and hope football at times. Well done Preston,- they beat us easily,-but in all honesty they beat us because we are trerrible and not because they play good football. Keane out,- please get anyone back,-bring back Magilton, get Kiwomya to run things for a while before we are relegated!

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jas0999 added 14:20 - Dec 12 I am surprised so many people want Hughton - unless I have missed something, it's the same situation as Roy Keane? Gets a club promoted from the Championship with Premier League players and in first season holds their own in the PL. Where is the difference? No disrespect, but think we need an experienced manager to steady the ship. Hughton is not that man!
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tractaboy added 14:42 - Dec 12 I know Keane hasn't even gone yet, but i can't see him staying any longer. I think Evans can be applauded for allowing Keane time, he could quite easily have been sacked this time elast year. My only worry is that if he doesn't go soon we could miss out on the right person to take over. I'd personally love to see Curbs and think he would come here. I know he says he wants a premiership club bet he's had plenty of chances to fill a seat inthe last year. Keane must be on a decent wage that would attract a decent manager. Hughton, not experienced enough for me,did a good job with amulti million pound team. Blackwell, sh!t, O' Neill, why not, he seems to love a challenge and would work wonders here, think of the TV coverage! O'Driscoll, possibly the next Holloway? Good footballl, just what we need. With McCarthy and Speed looking like they're on the way out this week we could miss out on these people and Keane's scorched earth policy will continue. Why we are not playing the team we did at the beginning of the year getting decent results i'll never know. Half a team of loanees is not the answer, ask Brian Gunn.

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dirtydingusmagee added 14:50 - Dec 12 O'Neil ! couldnt afford him, wouldnt want to come into Championship, at present as much as i want Keane to go now,there are'nt many possible replacements available[realistic possibilities] .
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nkotb_sect5 added 15:02 - Dec 12 tractaboy & dingus .. u rboth right imo .. not many out there for us:- we are prob not good enough for O'Neill Hughton - potentially keane mark 2 Best of the rest - curbs (he kept wham up) I hate West ham. Dodgy days
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JayT added 15:38 - Dec 12 yorksblue .... sorry i got confused with hoddle if he would come
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tractoreddie51 added 16:42 - Dec 12 his records are looking bad, 6 losses on the trot, record loss against scum, etc etc,know any more guys, yes not looking good, bobby started bad,but not this bad,but played good footy, can he come good keane,time is running out,i hope he can prove every one wrong.
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Maccattack added 16:48 - Dec 12 I honestly can't see him proving everyone wrong, there is now an element of distrust between the fans and the manager, a point of no return in my opinion. If we were to win at leicester and then Clegg, Evans and the keane followers act as if everything is all okay again they're in for a bit of a shock, my favoured choice for the new manager would be Curbs or O'Driscoll.

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bluearmy4life added 17:37 - Dec 12 Stats for Roy Keane as town manager in the League only: Played: 67 Won: 19 Drawn: 23 Lost: 25 That is awful and I can't justify why the pro keanes want him here? I really hope the club have a meeting tomorrow and get this sorted once and for all. We escaped the drop last year, We haven't got a hope in hell this year under Keane and his team he has built. Keano out chants on saturday who's in?

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fourth added 17:50 - Dec 12 Obviously this is Keane's last job in football management. He will be hurt. But that is not ITFC's concern. It is a damage limitation situation now. If he goes now, we have time to (have the opportunity to) come into the top zone; But by Christmas (2 weeks away) it's all over and without morale we could be another division down. Management seems stuck like rabbits in the searchlight. I believe in creating one's destiny, not waiting to be overwhelmed by circumstances.

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fourth added 18:05 - Dec 12 Mr.O'Neil could well be the next Great Name at Portman Road for the next decade. He has an incredible track record and has the subtlty of mind and self confidence to work on a results basis. Can the investors back him in the Spurs mould? Well, they will have to.
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ipswich1992 added 18:40 - Dec 12 Lets be realistic we are never going to get marin oneill. He wouldnt come. I think houghton would be a very good appointment as although he hasnt had a lot of expierience as manager he has been an assistant for many years and has good links in the game aswell as a good knowledge. If not i would love to see joe royle back here in some sort of role with matt holland think that would work well. I will be at the game on saturday and i will be singing for keane's sacking. I just5 cant put up with him for any longer we have to do something.

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dirtydingusmagee added 18:44 - Dec 12 Keane reckons the supporters dont make enough noise, well perhaps the ever dwindling number that do go, could now rectify that ! wonder if HE will react [as he reckons team would ]'' lets be hearing you ''' personally i feel he and board are deaf to criticism so am voting with my feet.
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bluelady added 19:02 - Dec 12 see i disagree with the Houghton appointment being a bad one..... fans and players all love him, he has a good way about him, a way of encouraging the best out of players - picking players up when at a low (i.e relegation to championship) he doesnt use the bully boy tackets of our current manager (what have Prisken, O Connor, Townsend and Dellaney done to upset him?) so persoanlly i would welcome him with open arms, and like it or not far more realistic than O Neiil who is sunning it in the Carribean right now according to five live!!!

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dirtydingusmagee added 19:33 - Dec 12 another inspiring speech tomorrow i expect ,Keanes Monday morning confessional,probably followed by another gunpoint apology from a player who drew short straw.
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tractaboy added 19:43 - Dec 12 Dingus i really hope we get a press conference instead where Keane has done the honourable thing and quit. I can't go on like this, it's been the same for 18 month, it's not going to improve in 6.
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