On-loan midfielder Chris Bart-Williams says he wants to stay at Town for the rest of 2003/04. However, under current Football League rules, none of the Blues' current loanees can remain at Portman Road more than three months without signing permanent deals.
Bart-Williams told the club site that he is happy at Portman Road and would like to extend his stay until May: "I have no doubts that the team is good enough to finish in the top six at the very least. If I did not believe that I would not be here.
"If everything works out well I would like to stay here as long as I can, to the end of the season would be fine, and play my part in getting the club in the play-offs."
However, unless Town sign the ex-Orient, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest man permanently from Charlton there is no prospect of him remaining at Portman Road until the season's end.
Current Football League rules on loans state that Bart-Williams, Alan Mahon and Shefki Kuqi are all too old for Town to take on a season's loan: "A player can only be transferred on a long-term loan if he was under the age of 23 on the 30th June prior to the season in which the long-term loan transfer is intended to take place."
Bart-Williams is 29, Mahon 25 and Kuqi 26. What the Football League describes as short-term loans allow players of any age to remain at clubs for a maximum of just "93 days in any one season."
Town boss Joe Royle is keen to sign all three players permanently, however the current financial situation makes the capture of all three unlikely.