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

WarkyWonderLand added 21:37 - Dec 13 Forgot to say, same old rubbish and excuses. That word character is so annoying. And to say priority was not to get beat just says it all. We are not in Serie A or La Liga. We should be going out to win games and give the opposition something to think about. Preston must have been more worried about our bench on Saturday!! Keanes man management comes to the fore as Brown and Smith "did ok". How to make them feel good. Delaney must have had a falling out to not be in the 18, and where was Shane O'Connor again??

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Bergholtblue added 21:44 - Dec 13 “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." Where the f*ck was Delaney then?. The most experienced and streetwise centre back we have who is fit at the moment? Oh that's right he is being punished for getting sent off, by Keane the great motivator. Time he said goodbye.

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tractorboy2434 added 21:45 - Dec 13 Same old claptrap every week, for god's sake give us a rest and say something different, its the same old cliches every game, I wish he would just keeph is mouth shut as he has nothing sensible to say, it seems as if news conferences and quotes are all he is interested in, personally it all smacks of poor preparation and not enough hard work on the training pitch, we are just a soft touch, evryone we play is better organised and more disciplined, what the hell do they do every day, because we make the same mistakes every week.

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town75 added 22:11 - Dec 13 i have been watching ipswich town f.c play home and away for the last twenty years and i can honestly say that this is by far the worst team of players ever to grace portman road..barnsley at home was a horror show,took me a few days for the numbness to wear off..thought it could'nt get any worst but..4-1 to the budgies was a personal sickener especially as it was live on tv....wake me up out of this nightmare pls keano and be a man and stand down..you tried hard but...........

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RoyTheManKeane added 22:56 - Dec 13 byebyesheepshanks - I think you said it all. Well done sir. Big picture n' all that.
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Tractastic added 23:09 - Dec 13 Clegg can't let Keane go or it will be a sign of failure for the structure they have set up.If Keane goes which we all know he should, Clegg has to follow.? What exactly has he done for ITFC? I think at this stage all the supporters i know just want Keane to leave and hopefully our beloved club can stay in this division whoever takes over and then build for the future.

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Upbeat~ added 00:46 - Dec 14 Keanish I'm afraid I'll be going to this game regradless - finally back in country and have to see for myself (not just via tv) the actual state of affairs. My idea would be: no one wear an itfc shirt - boycott the evans brand. The lack of blue everywhere would definitely make a statement (whether it would be a right one I don't know, but it would show to evans how "disgruntled" the fans are. Other than that a post match keane out protest - wouldn't want our feelings to negatively affect the team during the match.

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GiveusaWave added 08:45 - Dec 14 can't believe he hasn't been sacked yet...dear God, how much damage are they going to let him do? Do we finally have to face relegation before ME sees some sense? we will be enjoying League 1 football next year if this continues...
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brittaniaman added 08:46 - Dec 14 Evans is not going to dismiss Keano at the moment, so there will be no knee jerk reaction according to the evening star this morning, he will still be in charge when 2011 starts. If that is the position then he should go Hell bent on getting him in a MENTOR TO GUIDE HIM THROUGH THESE TROUBLED TIMES, I PROBABLY Would accept that, and I think other fans would as well, so come on MR EVANS DO IT NOW before we embarrass ourselves again on tv !!!!

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BrettenhamBlue added 08:59 - Dec 14 Keane needs to go, but we need to support our team through this difficult times. They are tacticless, demotivated , unskillful and not willing to put in any effort at the moment. They feel like everyone is out to get them and their manager, and they walk on the pitch with their shoulders hunched and staring hard at their boots. They need to play with pride. Admittedly, a lot of these players are not worthy of playing in the Championship, but regardless, we should show them vocally our support. At the moment we have other teams showing off our huge defensive errors and gaffs and laughing at mistakes, how much confidence is this going to instill in our already shocking defence? Every saturday other teams are waiting to see the highlights so they can laugh at our defenders once again as they make desperate error after error. Support the team and not the manager!

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bluelady added 09:24 - Dec 14 brittaniaman - that article in the Evening Star was a Carl Marston mind reading special that only speculates on what he think may happen, in his usual style he will probably totally contradict what he has said tomorrow so i would read too much into the article! That said there are no signs of an imenent change at the helm.....
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BrettenhamBlue added 09:35 - Dec 14 Bluelady- agree, can't see a change at the moment. Keane needs to go BADLY but its not going to happen. what we decide to do now in response is up to us. Regardless of what occurs, we need to spend a fair amount in January on a left back, a strong centre back, a right back, midfielder (creative and long range shot specialist), a striker (and please get rid of Fallon in January,- unless we are really planning for League 1) This would cost a fair amount (£9m on defence, £4m on midfielder, £3m on Striker). Really cannot see where this money is going to come from. Eastman needs to go onloan as does Smith. Hate to be heartless but a fact is a fact. We have been killed on the wings for far too long. If we don't spend significantly, I can't see how we can possibly stay up.The players we have are simply not good enough

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BrettenhamBlue added 09:36 - Dec 14 bobble, i have finally switched around to your way of thinking
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dirtydingusmagee added 09:40 - Dec 14 Keane's still here ...looks like being a Black Christmas this year .
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SammyT added 09:40 - Dec 14 Want Keane out as much as the next man but will be at the game and trying to back the team as usual. Think protesting before and after the game is all fine but we need 3 points fella/ladies and still need to back the team. We should be doing our bit no matter how poor the standard of football (and as painful as it is). Keane has gone past redemption but we need to remind the players that they havent.... PLAY ANDROS TOWNSEND FFS. FORK! COYB!

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BrettenhamBlue added 09:41 - Dec 14 Lets face it. If we were playing Championship Manager week after week and we were getting killed at the back we would bring in new players. FORK FORF
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BrettenhamBlue added 09:44 - Dec 14 SammyT- agree,Townsend is one of the few saving graces of our team,along with fulop (most of the time) and priskin/O'Connor and Mccauley when fit
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bluelady added 09:49 - Dec 14 RKeanisGod - not ideal but for me JP does a good job at right back and was playing at the beginning of the season when we were playing one up front but attacking along the wings....... he is a player proud to wear a town shirt yet put on in a million differant positions for five minutes here an there. At lesst he offers an attacking option at right back, and Edwards is good at tracking back so betweent them if given the chance could do much better than the current situation.

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whippet added 09:54 - Dec 14 Follow thinking along your lines bluelady with players mentioned by RKeanisaGod. That still leaves us with only 6 players who are fit to wear the colours. Thats depressing. don't know what to do with eastman but the guy needs a confidence boost. not all on him though, entire defence has been a disgrace apart from GM. Fallon has been terrible but needs time to settle
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whippet added 10:01 - Dec 14 fallons debut reminded me of adrian paz
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