Hibs boss Tony Mowbray has commented on Town's interest in bringing him back to Portman Road as the successor to Joe Royle. Mowbray ruled himself out of the running earlier today.

The former Town coach and captain said: "The sequence of events is that I was aware on Wednesday that Ipswich Town had made an inquiry to speak to me.

"I was about to leave for Paris for a few days to watch the Champions League final and I took that time to have a chat with my wife, Amber, and to give things a think.

"I spoke to no one and this morning I spoke to Rod Petrie and had a conversation with David Sheepshanks.

"I relayed to him that I am happy at Hibs at this moment in time and I thanked him for their interest.

"First and foremost I have to thank [Hibs chairman] Rod Petrie for having the integrity to give me an opportunity to speak to Ipswich Town.

"On reflection, I feel as if I still have an important job to do here.

"We have a lot of young players that I have faith in and I am trying to build a team that can compete, although we have talked about how difficult that is with the Old Firm and the investment at Hearts at the moment.

"Having said that, I still think that if we had kept the team fit last season we could have run things closer. I am excited at the potential here and of being able to bring in one or two players in the summer who helped the team.

"I am very respectful of Ipswich Town, I understand what a great club they are with the facilities, the fanbase and the people who work there, but, hopefully, Mr Sheepshanks understands my decision.

"He was trying to be very persuasive about that football club and the job, although he never got as far as offering me it.

"But my focus is on Hibs and working hard to try and improve the team and to work with the board to take this club forward."

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