Boss Paul Jewell says that if there’s a possibility of signing loan midfielder Jimmy Bullard on a permanent basis from Hull City in the summer, Town would look at it. However, the Town manager admitted that with the 32-year-old having two years remaining on his £45,000-a-week contract, the financial side of a deal is a potential stumbling block.
Jewell said: "When Jimmy first came here it was only going to be a short-term loan to give Jimmy games to see if he liked it here.
"I knew what he could do and I think he’s brought a breath of fresh air to the place, the players love him, the fans love him, sometimes I like him.
"It’s something that if it could be done, certainly we’d like to. Whether it can be done, obviously the financial restraints are very high, it’s something that we’ll have to speak about.
"If there’s a possibility that something can be done - and I know the owner is as ambitious as I am - we would look at it.
"But it’s only a possibility and we’ve got other players’ contracts to sort out first and I don’t want to get into the realms of a Jimmy Bullard saga in the last seven or eight weeks of the season.”
Chief executive Simon Clegg is refusing to be drawn on the issue: "I’m not prepared to comment on Jimmy Bullard’s future. What I can say is that we are delighted with Jimmy’s contribution both on and off the field since he arrived at Portman Road.
"We are focusing on building for the future to see what we can achieve next season. The manager and I have a strategy that we are working on and the club chairman and owner has bought into that.”