Boss Roy Keane was pleased with Town's workrate and their clean sheet but was disappointed not to have had more possession and more of a cutting edge after the 0-0 draw at Swansea.

Keane said: "We could have done more with the possession but our workrate was good and now we can look forward to next week.

"We are disappointed that we never had a cutting edge, but to keep a clean sheet is always good.

"We are looking for a bit more consistency as we have dropped a lot of points against teams near the bottom of the division and today we had to be a bit more negative to get anything out of this game.

"It can't be all about playing pretty football, sometimes you have to turn in performances like that if you want to make progress and we did all the ugly stuff well today.

"They probably had the better of the half chances but we had good situations but didn't make the most of them because we were let down by the final ball.

"We have got to be better in possession going forward and hopefully we will be next week but the back four and keeper will be pleased with the clean sheet, the whole team should be.

"The fans got behind the team and me and we really appreciate that and I think they will be content with the performance, although of course we have not shown that level on a consistent basis."

Commenting on speculation that his time as Town manager could be about to come to an end, Keane said: "Better managers than me have lost their jobs and if the board want to move me on then that is the name of the game, but I have a wife and five kids and I will be all right.

"I'm very proud to be manager of Ipswich and, please God, that will continue. I'm certainly not fearful of losing my job. I've got a good life but football is massively important to me. I came down to Ipswich to do a job and I don't think I've really started yet.

"I appreciate that people do get impatient, particularly supporters, but I was pleased with the supporters who travelled down here. They got behind the team and got behind myself and that is very much appreciated."

Swansea manager Paulo Sousa felt a draw was a fair result: "Ipswich were well organised and our minds were not fresh, so at the end of the game I am happy with a point.

"I am very glad that we are now through a difficult month and can refresh ourselves before next Saturday's derby at Cardiff.

"We need to be ready for them but we have shown we are a good side as we have been in the play-off positions for a long time.

"We now have 22 clean sheets this season to equal the club record but we must find more ways of scoring goals and we have the possibility of doing that during training this week.

"We want to create a strong foundation here and improve as a club and I'm very confident and happy that we will do just that."

Photo: Action Images

MPN added 00:40 - Mar 28 'I came down to Ipswich to do a job and I don't think I've really started yet.' Brilliant, 8 months on and you haven't really started... really doesn't help himself sometimes. And the fact that in a week he has pleaded to Marcus Evans, the fans and now even God to keep him in the job, coming across as very desperate..
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PutYaBootsOnKeano added 03:17 - Mar 28 It will be a travesty if he does not get a second season. He's a great guy, i'm completely on his side. He still has half a squad to fashion yet, has barely been in the job for a year, and has been arguably - contra popular - very prudent. Great back four, keeper problem solved, very tough team to beat, couple of strikers in and just because he's not splashed millions on creative players yet, some fans are turning on him. People run to the defence of players like Garvan over the manager? Wake up. Some ITFC fans can be a negative, whiny, fickle bunch. 2 Weeks ago he's alright after all, 2 weeks later (in this, of all leagues), and he's a villain. For all the cooing about what sort of club we are, some are calling to push out a guy who lives in the real world, and burns for success more than any sportsman I know. He will make this happen, and, if my club pushes him out then I will honestly feel less affinity to the new order. My club gives a manager more than a year. Particularly a believer like this man. Finally. Please realise his catch-22. He cannot play free-flowing football when dogfighting. We lost that luxury with our unbelievably unlucky start to the season. He is highly intelligent. He'll get there, and more importantly, he'll fashion a squad of players capable of it.

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buryblue77 added 03:42 - Mar 28 putyabootsonkeano, well said. I strongly believe that next year will be a whole lot different, we'll be up there in the mix come the end of the seasonand with Keano still in charge. COYB!!!!
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Mungo added 04:16 - Mar 28 PutYaBootsOnKeano - RK has been prudent? Not even an argument there. Lee Martin - £1.5m, Tamas Priskin - £1.7m, Carlos Edwards - £1.35m etc Keeper problem solved? This time last year there wasn't one? Very tough to beat? Are we? The bottom four clubs have taken 18 out of 24 points against us! Don't get me wrong, I desperately want RK to succeed and turn things around. Sadly I just cannot see this happening right now and I think a parting of the ways would be best for both parties...

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bennyblue added 04:47 - Mar 28 "our unbelievably unlucky start to the season" you must live in cloud cuckoo land mate losing 1-2 games may be considered unlucky but to lose that many at the start of the season has nothing to do with bad luck and everything to do with bad playing.keane and the players are responsible for that and as roy picks the team and purchased /loaned most of the players then he is directly accountable for our current position and season thats why there is a lot of talk of him leaving....roy must take the blame off with his head

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dirtydingusmagee added 10:10 - Mar 28 NEXT !
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I_Like_Pies added 10:18 - Mar 28 ''disappointed not to have had more of a cutting edge'' .... erm well prehaps you shouldn't play one up front you moron.
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Barhamblue added 10:54 - Mar 28 Putyourbootsonkeano. Great write up and totally agree. I couldn't have put it better myself. Our fans must be patient and be very carefull what they wish for. Now let's all try and place a little bit of intellegence and stick with keano and get behind the new regime!
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bennyblue added 11:07 - Mar 28 roy must be feeling very happy this season then cause we have had 18 draws out of 40 games
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el_nino added 11:21 - Mar 28 PutYaBootsOnKeano- well said. I agree with your comments 100%.
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pottyblue added 11:36 - Mar 28 in agreemant with put your boots on ,remember supples comments about players not really being bothered ,how many of our 1st team players could get 1st team football anywhere else.RK needs time ,it wasn,t him that gave a s### headed backpass against pafc was it he has a massive job to do and i hope that evans a keano come out and sign another contract maybe 5yrs ala cobbold/robson days shuts the press and slaters off,gives stability and then lets move on .good foundations=good buildings we are at the start of a long journey and i want king keano to lead us

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Lightningboy added 12:32 - Mar 28 If Keane's happy with what he saw yesterday then he's setting us very low standards...can't believe that there are fans still willing to accept this rubbish....how many of them would still be behind a "lesser" name manager?..none probably. Swansea were awful yesterday but still should've won it. Keane needs time,that's all we keep hearing.. He's had nearly 12 months - don't anyone dare tell me that we've moved forward since Jim got the sack..hell,Jim still got sacked even after we'd beaten Norwich and we were 9th. Time to bring in Burley or Curbishley Marcus and put and end to this drivel.

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tractorboy11uk added 12:36 - Mar 28 100% behind RK. He needs time to finish the cull of the deadwood that still exists within our club then we can move forward. Always tells it as he sees it. He complained about Mariners no show the other night because he was with David Sheepshanks (the man who took us to the brink and have never truly recovered from it. Why was he there?) I for one don't give a toss if he makes mistakes from time to time. Are all the RK haters so perfect in their jobs? I doubt it ! Get behind the man and let him do his job. God help us if Curbs turns up to create another dad's army team! Mogga had his chance to come here and turned his nose up so no thanks either ! RK is and always will be a legend, hated him as a player but always wanted him in my team ! Carry on Roy and I hope you get a contract extension !

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cbower added 13:37 - Mar 28 It has been a desperately poor season and the football played has, for the most part, been less than free flowing. Some signings have been a let down (Priskin and Martin in particular) but Roy has also made one or two good aquisitions / loans (Leadbitter, Rosenior, Delaney - arguably not his signing I know - both Murphys and the loan keeper from Pompey whose name evades me right now). We are not quite safe but I expect we will survive and despite all the negatives about this season, I still want RK to get what he signed up for, that is, another crack at the whip. It often happens that a team that struggles one year comes back the next, stronger for the experience and more united as a result. As a club, we have a tradition of patience which we should stick with. If we are in the same predicament next season, RK will know his fate but I suspect we will perform much better. One thing RK must do, however, is bring some width, pace and creativity in over the summer. Perhaps he thought he was doing this with the signing of Lee Martin (and Carlos Edwards) but he was clearly duped with Martin as he posesses none of the above and Edwards has not delivered with any consistency. An interesting summer ahead. I hope RK does his business before the season starts as opposed to 10 games in this time!

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DrJeckyll added 14:14 - Mar 28 100% in agreement with put your boots on. First season under John Lyall we finished 15th, next season we took the title, something similiar happened in the 60's as well. Fortunately we had a much more sensible support then. Those supporters who are always on here getting rabid about one thing or another bring shame on our club. I used to love going to football on a saturday, but now, sometimes the atmosphere at portman road is horrible with all the moaning and whinging from the ignorant, they are like a cancer that has infected our club, lets hope their effect is not ultimately terminal. Of course they will blame everyone except themselves!

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WickedBlue added 18:40 - Mar 28 Yea lets pick the bones of everything RK says rather than the spirit in which he says it in. Some people on here really need need to get a life of their own and stop spending their lives trying to find things to beat RK with. You really are making yourselves look pathetic.
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woodpecker added 19:10 - Mar 28 I like many others also agree with put your boots on keano. I don't want to see ipswich become a club that sacks managers when the first site of things go wrong. Just look a qpr, they keep a manager for a few months and after a few defeats their gone. No stability at qpr and the whole process of rebuilding starts over and over again, and it shows by their league position. Everton is a club that has rightly kept faith in their manager, david moyes. After his first full season in charge they finished 17th, 6 points from relegation. After that he lead them to 4th 2004/2005 season 11th 2005/2006 season 6th 2006/2007 season 5th 2007/2008 season 5th 2008/2009 season and just look at how solid they have been as this season has progressed... they only started off slow this season due to key players that moyes signed being injured. The main reasons why moyes has done well at everton is that there is stability and he has been given enough time to build a squad that he believes will perform on a consistant basis. I think ipswich should follow in a similar approach and give roy enough time to build a squad capable of finishing high in the championship

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jas0999 added 19:24 - Mar 28 Interesting tht some yet again chose to JUST look at the negatives. Yes, Priskin and Martin appear to be poor signings. Add to that C. Healy (although worth a punt at £50k). Edwards has been inconsistent, but I wouldn't say a poor signing. Some would have us believe that everything about Roy is 100% negative. Well lets look at some GOOD signings: Leadbitter - one of our best performers O'Conner - what a signing and free Delaney - poor start but has been excellent at the back. Few can argue that Roy has improved the defence Rosenior - certainly not an awful signing D. Murphy - scored 6 already Colback - has been brilliant for us Murphy - a decent keeper ALB - didn't let us down Okay, now some of these players are only on loan, but every club in this division has loan signings. Perm or loan - in my opinion, man for man Roy has signed more GOOD players than BAD. Shame some don't give a balanced argument - picking on the negatives all the time. As I have said before if you 'hate' Roy that much, why not look to support another club? People also go on about Jim. He's gone. Rightly so. He was given over TWO YEARS by most and eventually went after failing to deliver after almost three YEARS. Roy hasn't had a full season yet. And whilst at it, Jim 'I have never made a poor signing' Magilton, actually brought in a load of rubbish (as well as some decent player), yet some chose to forget that. It would be a mistake in my opinion to change manager again.

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alfromcol added 21:18 - Mar 28 The true supporters of ITFC are those that also go to away matches. Can ANYONE amongst the negative posters make a claim that they have attended an away match?
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alfromcol added 21:25 - Mar 28 Carry on Roy Look at the record this season Only 5 teams in the Championship have lost less games than ITFC this season. By turning a few of the drawn games into wins in 2010/11, a place in the play offs or better is a certainty.
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MPN added 23:31 - Mar 28 Going to Peterborough was evidence enough to show Keane's managerial prowess
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Jesney_Havoc added 08:57 - Mar 29 Hasn't started yet ? that's excellent news, presumably we don't have to pay him then.
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dirtydingusmagee added 09:45 - Mar 29 Alfromcol, yes i can, and im sure there are many other's ,it is an expensive ''treat'' these days , the fact that when i have been able to afford to, i do go to away games ,dosnt make those who cant any less a supporter, even in such a crap season as we have had this season im sure there are many supporters who would dearly love to go to away games but cant, so please think! before making a statement like that .

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denhamblue added 17:45 - Mar 29 yawn,i be realy origonal,we need a new strike force,capable of running more than 3 mph,and strikers who could miss big ben from 5 feet.
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