Central defender Gareth McAuley has reiterated his desire to remain with the club. McAuley, who scored on his 100th league appearance for the Blues on Tuesday, is out of contract at the end of the season and, along with skipper David Norris, turned down the offer of a new deal before Christmas.

The Northern Irishman says he’s happy with the current situation having spoken to new manager Paul Jewell: “I’m quite comfortable with the way things are. I spoke to the gaffer and we had a good chat about things, and we are both comfortable with the situation.

“I said that I will keep him in the picture, if I hear anything, and that sort of thing. The way it is, I want to stay here and I want to play my football here.

“I see good times ahead for the club and that’s pretty much it for the minute, until something happens.”

Jewell recently said that he will begin to look at tying down the out of contact players once the Blues have secured their Championship status for next season: “Hopefully, sooner rather than later we can get stuff sorted.

“The only concern I’ve got is making sure we’ve got enough points and then we’ll know where we’re going to be next year, I’m pretty confident that we’re going to be OK. But once we know for definite, then we can sit down and make decisions and that’s what I’ve said to the players.

“The ball’s in their court. If they go and play well between now and the end of the season and show the same commitment and desire that they have up to now, everyone wins.

“They’ll certainly win, we’ll obviously try and pay then more money to keep them, so will other clubs. It’s a win-win situation for them.”

Photo: Action Images

stickymockwell added 14:36 - Feb 18 Woo hoo
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FennyTractorBoy added 14:37 - Feb 18 Sign him up for life along with Delaney and super Healy
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SouperJim added 14:49 - Feb 18 Jesus wept, another pointless story and yet more avatar porn.
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groovyASH added 14:57 - Feb 18 Go and get laid Souper, that might make you a bit happier.
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Ipswich24 added 15:01 - Feb 18 Gareth McAulay Clap clap clap clap clap!!!!
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BlueBoots added 15:15 - Feb 18 Contracts will be sorted once the club accountants know how many fans are renewing their season tickets, and how many new season tickets are likely to be sold for next season (2,000 not renewing for this season works out at about a £1m drop in guaranteed revenue from gate receipts alone...)
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DiamondGezzer added 15:20 - Feb 18 Let's just be happy guys, this surely has to be a comment that everybody has been waiting for, someone who really wants to play for the shirt and wants to commit. Doesn't it bring just a little smile to the old chops ?
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SouperJim added 15:43 - Feb 18 Mr Groovy I'll have you know I'm hanging out the back of a female linesman as I type this
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Tractorog added 16:05 - Feb 18 Careful Souper Jim you might get a touchline ban for that
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jas0999 added 16:32 - Feb 18 These players want to sign - lets get the deals DONE. What has Clegg been doing? I don't buy 'we want to be safe' - these deals should have been done months and months ago - long before we were in a relegation battle.
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Nazemariner added 16:45 - Feb 18 Let's not be held to ransom by either of our ageing central defenders. Take what's on offer or do one. I for one would be quite happy to see Tommy Smith or Troy Brown come into the first team. Both have the potential to be far better players than either Delaney or MaCauley.
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I_8_NARWICH added 17:02 - Feb 18 give him what he wants, hes been one of our best players (along with Chuck and Delaney) over the last couple of seasons so we cant afford to lose our good players that could really influence what we do next season, SIGN HIM UP!
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dirtydingusmagee added 17:45 - Feb 18 SouperJim get off ya horse and drink ya soup .
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Johnny_Boy added 19:10 - Feb 18 A pointless slanging match on the pointless 'News Comments' section... Marvelous.
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petermorris added 19:30 - Feb 18 Ipswich24- "Gareth McAulay Clap clap clap clap clap!!!!" - has SouperJim already "hung out of the back of" him then? As poinless slanging matches go this is better than slagging off snoods, tights or Dwight Yorke!
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tractorboy2434 added 08:03 - Feb 19 They will ALL sign for the highest bidder, he says he wants to stay but will be off like a shot if he is offered more money elsewhere, however I think a 2 year offer made by the club to Norris, Mc and Delaney is realistic and we should not offer silly money, they won't get huge deals elsewhere.
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Back_The_Boss added 08:19 - Feb 21 Our rock in defence, its important players like Maca stay at ITFC. coyb!
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