Boss Roy Keane says the patience of the Town support was one of the reasons he chose to take the job at Portman Road in the first place. Despite last week’s critical comments regarding a lack of backing for his younger players and supporters calling on him to “sort it out” at Watford and Forest, the Blues manager says the fans have been “very good” since he first came to the club in April last year.
Keane said: "The supporters have been fine since I walked through the doors. They’ve been very good, particularly last year when they were unbelievably patient, but that’s one of the reasons I took the job. I knew I would probably get the benefit of the doubt when other fans maybe would have turned.
"It is up to me to sort it out, that’s why I enjoy being a manager. I have great faith in the players, I’ve got good staff and we’re looking forward to the Northampton game, but I also know that if you’re not winning games it creates pressure and frustration.
"The supporters are no doubt feeling that, particularly at home. I thought they got right behind the team at Forest and travelled in good numbers and they’ll be coming here expecting a good performance and we’ll do our best to try and make them happy.”
Keane has no issue with fans giving their views: "Supporters are entitled to their opinions, nobody has a problem with that, our supporters have been fine.
"My message to supporters was to get behind the younger players in certain situations in games where we might give the ball cheaply, we might be under pressure or where we might concede a goal.”
Asked whether he’s "best pals” with fans in the wake of last week’s comments, Keane says he can understand their current dissatisfaction: "I don’t know if I was ever their best pal. The fans no doubt are frustrated at the moment. I live in the real world and when you‘re losing football matches it creates tension and frustration, which we all have.
"But the message to supporters is to get behind the team, particularly the younger players, and we’ll be OK.”