Lee Martin has willingly put his own future to one side for the time being as he forgets about a new contract and focuses fully on managerless Town’s plight at the foot of the Championship table.
Martin, 25, was signed by Roy Keane from Manchester United and will see his four-year deal expire next summer.
But while he would like nothing more than to extend his stay at Portman Road, his personal situation is not his priority right now.
Martin explained: "It’s disappointing, obviously, because you’d like to know where you’re going to be. But that’s the least of the club’s worries at the moment.
"I’m open to talk whenever the owner wants to have a chat. As far as the negotiations are concerned, we are happy to talk, but it’s a non-starter in that sense because the last time we spoke was in August.
"At the moment we need to concentrate on pulling together and get ourselves out of this mess. There are far more important things going on now. We want to turn this round quickly.”
With Paul Jewell gone it falls to caretaker boss Chris Hutchings to lead the players into today’s home clash with fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday and try to gain Town’s first win in 12 games.
Martin added: "The boys have massive respect for Hutch. He’s a great coach and I think the boys will be working 100 per cent for him. Let’s just hope that we can get the three points on Saturday.
"The atmosphere was a bit low after Paul left but Hutch and the other coaches have been trying their hardest to get us going, get some enjoyment into the sessions and get us ready for the game against Sheffield Wednesday.”