Boss Roy Keane conceded that the longer the Blues’ poor run of form continues, the harder it gets to turn it around. Saturday’s loss at Preston was the sixth successive league defeat and their ninth in 11 games.

Keane said: “The longer the run goes on the harder it is to turn around. That’s nine defeats in 11 and at any level in any league, in any country that is not good enough.”

The Town manager says his pride has been hurt by the current situation: “Unbelievably so. You wouldn’t believe how much it’s hurting, but you could try and guess. I’m a proud man and I don’t like getting beaten.”

Keane said he still felt he was capable of turning things around, but when asked how a manager retained their resilience in such circumstances added: “Good question that, sometimes you don’t.”

The Blues boss also hinted that he might again be having thoughts about an assistant manager when asked whether he had a mentor: “No, I should get one.”

Despite his side having had the better of the first half, Keane took only scant positives from the game: “I thought Rory Fallon did well. We certainly didn’t want keep Rory on the pitch for 90 minutes but I thought he was decent in both boxes, whether he was defending or attacking.

“Mark Kennedy got 60-odd minutes. We took a chance on Sparky and his hamstring, but it’s nothing to get carried away with, getting players back on the pitch for an hour or so.”

The Blues boss felt Preston’s centre-halves — former Blue Wayne Brown and Leon Cort — were had a significant effect on the game: “I thought their two centre-halves were outstanding. They know the league, know the game, know when to put their foot through it, attacked it well in both boxes. Their two centre-halves were a big difference in the performances.

“I’m not knocking my centre-halves, I thought they did OK, but they’re young boys and, I know everyone’s bored of me saying it, it’s about being streetwise. The boy Parkin was streetwise at the end of the game.

“When you consider all the late goals we gave away last year, it shows up in important parts of the game.

“Even when we went a goal down we went a bit gung-ho and were ball-watching and they could have nicked a second goal.”

Keane says the club has not yet discussed what sort of money might be available for additions to his squad in January: “I’ve not really had those discussions with the owner or the chief executive.

“The priority was not to get beat at Preston and we try and win every game. We’re getting dragged into it and we were down there all last year, so it’s been an ongoing problem.

“It’s not necessarily about having good players at the moment, it’s about having good characters, and there won’t be that many good characters available in January, even if there’s money available and they want to come to Ipswich. Those are massive question marks. Don’t think there’s a quick fix out there for us.”

With the Blues now down to 18th, Keane concedes that his side are now very much in the relegation battle: “We are at the moment, of course.”

The 39-year-old says there’s no excuse for the Blues getting into the current position after their good start to the season: “That’s nine defeats in 11. I’ve been involved in football since I was eight or nine years of age, whether it be at amateur level, I played semi-professional, played with top players at Forest and United and Celtic, good players at Sunderland.

“The run we’re on is not acceptable, let’s not kid ourselves. Forget about giving time or mentors or getting players who are streetwise, getting injured players back. That is a poor run in anyone’s book.”

Meanwhile, midfielder Grant Leadbitter says the players are backing their boss: “Of course we still have the faith in him, every single player in that dressing room wants him to stay and everyone’s behind him.

“We want him to stay and the players have got to do better because it’s us losing the games, not the manager. We’ve got a couple of big games coming up and we want to bounce back next week. It’s a big disappointment.”

Photo: Action Images

warwickblue added 10:55 - Dec 13 Which hurts more? Keane's aimless, cliche-ridden lament of why things are so bad or Leadbitter's sycophantic defence of his clearly hopeless manager? Do you think the players are pressurised into spouting this drivel ? Do they have some form of rota or are they selected at random?
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Legend added 10:56 - Dec 13 Dean man walking..................................
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DietmarVanNostrilBoy added 10:56 - Dec 13 Come on TWTD give us the headline we want to read 'Press conference called at Portman Road' I have been checking every 10 minutes. Surely it is imminent!
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Legend added 10:57 - Dec 13 sorry make that dead man walking!!! my bad!
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warwickblue added 10:59 - Dec 13 Legend - I thought Dean might be the new manager
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Liverpool_blu added 11:01 - Dec 13 Roy. stop trying. let someone else try. do the decent thing and go.
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Suffolk_n_Good added 11:11 - Dec 13 Walk NOW you moron!!
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HighgateBlue added 11:13 - Dec 13 If Keane is correct, then he should resign. If he couldn't halt the run when it was supposedly easy to halt, how is he going to be able to if it is getting harder with each loss? Keane very much out.
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blueherts added 11:21 - Dec 13 ByeBye - Keane is an adult and paid hansomely to make decisions ie pick his coaching staff - We had a chance to get Peter Taylor - experienced man - but as is Keanes style - he blocked it - why do you think we dont attract players or coaching staff - One reason - ROY KEANE - So dont give me this - arrrh poor Roy he doesn't get any help bulls'#t - He has failed miserably from the moment he walked through the door and snapped up that asset - Lee Martin and the great decision making hasnt stopped - Good bye keane - bring in an Ipswich and a Manager , a motivator .

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mark1969 added 11:24 - Dec 13 Whats has happened to our wonderful club ? Chief Executive clueless ,yet people still want to creep up to him and R.K. at the AGM WHY DID THEY NOT TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TELL THEM THE TRUTH !!! We are in freefall here and as much as we all want them to succeed , i am frigthtened that under this regime we will go down .None of us can tell what goes on behind closed doors but it looks like very little !! Marcus act now or their will be big demonstrations and crowd reaction if you do not .

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blueherts added 11:29 - Dec 13 Mark - here is an angle - ME is a Ticket Tout ( sorry Sports Hospitality Specialist) he appointed a former head of the BOA to gain access to Olympic contacts and they were awarded the deal of running Irish Olympic Association and all ticketing and hospitality - makes sense now eh !!!
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byebyesheepshanks added 11:42 - Dec 13 Blueherts - Keano is a winner but a classic number 2/henchman/guard dog. He is the general on the pitch, would run through walls for you or sort out team mates or opponents but always at someone elses suggestion. You would never leave him totally to his own devices or put him in charge. He's a puppet. He works for praise, he works for the boss & always needs direction. ME is seemingly totally absent. Clegg would seem to be indecisive & has no experience. Keane should go. He should never been hired into this setup. The next manager has to be mature, self motivated & totally self confident. No job for a greenhorn. He will be left to his own devices. I guarantee you though - when he starts winning & taking the plaudits, watch the owner & CEO step out of the shadows & try to grab the limelight. That's a whole new set of problems.

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Blue_Fred added 11:50 - Dec 13 “The priority was not to get beat at Preston .." oops!!
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BwoodBlue added 11:51 - Dec 13 Surely it's fairly unusual to call a press conference when you're sacking someone? Maybe it's a new manager announcement already? Terry Butcher to be appointed!!
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blueherts added 11:52 - Dec 13 byebye - Agree re next Manager - if this is the same 'Senior set up' - Mature and Self Motivated - I wish keane would go run through a brick wall about now and keep going till he gets to the Irish Sea !!!
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MAVERICK added 11:54 - Dec 13 Agree byebye 'KEANE IS A CLASSIC NNUMBER 2'
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MAVERICK added 11:57 - Dec 13 Looks like i am aswell (NUMBER 2)
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blueherts added 11:59 - Dec 13 Good one Maverick !!! missed that !!
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billbao added 12:07 - Dec 13 Still find it baffling that Keane hasn't got himself an assistant. How many successful managers have there been who have not had assistants? I can't think of any and look at the effect Wilkins leaving Chelsea has had, they haven't won since he got sacked. If he is going to stay then he needs to swallow his pride and bring someone in who can help him. Was reading the Wickham to Premier League rumours on web the other day and cam across this http://blog.football4football.com/2010/12/who-is-connor-wickham/

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vulcher added 12:20 - Dec 13 dunno y every1 is going nuts, i thinking he is doing a good job ;-). keane kinda reminds me of a young mike bassett!. bluelady if this info is wrong then i will be very disappointed in u lol, coz im buzzing about this being true!. slightly worried who they wud appoint tho, coz evans and cleggs seem a bit clueless when it comes to football, strange that!
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Keaneish added 12:27 - Dec 13 Nothing on Sky News Sports about a 2pm press conference. They'd be all over it if it had been announced. Not interested in a number 2 for you Keane. You're not welcome here any more.
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EatonBlue added 12:56 - Dec 13 My avatar says all that I want to say. Official announcement awaited.
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bluelady added 13:10 - Dec 13 Hmm maybe my friend got it wrong :-( I did say it wasn't a great source. Still for a shortwhile I lived in hope, still not two yet though!!! Oh and when keane said he wanted to invest in a striker in Jan think he is alluding to fallon signing a Perm deal, afterall keane himself said he had a good game Saturday!!
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JetaimePeters added 13:10 - Dec 13 How streetwise would their centrebacks looked against Priskin and Townsend? Anyone can look streetwise against Rory forking Fallon! Keane go now before you ruin your whole legacy!
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bluelady added 13:11 - Dec 13 Hmm maybe my friend got it wrong :-( I did say it wasn't a great source. Still for a shortwhile I lived in hope, still not two yet though!!! Oh and when keane said he wanted to invest in a striker in Jan think he is alluding to fallon signing a Perm deal, afterall keane himself said he had a good game Saturday!!
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