Boss Mick McCarthy insists he isn’t envious of the high profile signings made by some of the Blues’ promotion rivals during the January transfer window.

While leaders Bournemouth stuck with their existing squad, second-placed Derby were busy during the window, signing Tom Ince, Jesse Lingard and Darren Bent on loan from Hull City, Manchester United and Aston Villa respectively and bringing in permanent additions Raul Albentosa from Eibar, Stephen Warnock from Leeds and Ryan Shotton from Stoke.

Middlesbrough in third recruited defender Tomas Kalas on loan from Chelsea and midfielder Adam Forshaw permanently from Wigan.

But McCarthy, who added Freddie Sears from Colchester for a fee of £100,000 and free agents Noel Hunt, Paddy Kenny and Dylan Connolly to his squad, says he’s not one to cast a covetous eye towards other clubs’ signings.

“I don’t do envy, not really. It’s really counterproductive, walking round and being envious of other people.

“And who’s to say they’re going to be better than we’ve got? When they've brought them in, are they going to fit in? Are they going to be as competitive as we are with players that they’ve brought in?

“You can gain something but you can certainly lose something as well. If you bring somebody in and he doesn’t really hit it off and you’ve left one out, you’ve got to go back to Plan A then.”

The Town boss, who celebrates his 56th birthday today, says such signings can increase expectancy: “Strangely enough, it does heap a bit of pressure on if you’re expected to do it and the players that you’ve brought in are going to galvanise things and ensure they get in the play-offs or the top two.

“But it doesn’t always work that when you move and it does add a little pressure. I’ve said all along we’re in the position with the lads that we’ve got and they’ve been terrific and I’ve no reason that they should be anything else in the run-in with 18 to go.”

McCarthy is more than content with his squad and has said he’ll utilise the emergency loan provision should he need it: “I’m happy with the lads I’ve got. And I had a word with them after the transfer window had closed.

“I said ‘Have a look around in the dressing room at who you’re sat here with and ask whether there are many better goalkeepers than the two we’ve got? Are there too many better full-backs around or centre-halves?

“‘Are there many better midfield players than we’ve got, or wide players who do the job that we want to do playing 4-4-2? And then have a look at your strikers. We’ve got the top scorer from last year, the leading goalscorer this year.

“‘We’ve got Hunty who has come in and scored three and really contributed already and Freddie, who has come in and settled in. So, have a look around and appreciate what you’ve got rather than envying what other people have done’. And that’s the way I try to be.”

Asked whether he felt his team are underdogs in the promotion race, he added: “We’ve got good players in our dressing room. Marcus is adhering to Financial Fair Play, that’s the way it is.

“So no, I think we’ve got a really good team which can compete with any of them. If anything [we’re] underdogs just because of the fact that we’re not spending any money, if that makes you an underdog.

“That doesn’t mean to say we’ve got worse players than them because we all know I’ve got shot of some players out of here who have cost a whole lot of money and didn’t contribute anything for me.

“The lads who have come in and cost nowt have got us into fourth, three points off the top. That’s where those players have got us to.

“I think there might be one or two envying us, how we’ve done it. There might be one or two going ‘Wow, we’ve spent this and we’re paying these people that and look at that mob down the road who are doing particularly well’.”

Photo: Action Images

textbackup added 07:38 - Feb 7 Get in Mick
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Witchesaswell added 07:55 - Feb 7 Mick may not do envy but it wouldn't have hurt to have strengthened the squad when it was so obvious how much we missed Murphy last week !
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WeWereZombies added 08:22 - Feb 7 Commendable though 'not doing envy' is perhaps this whole argument avoids the real problem of so few of the products of the youth system making it through to the first team. Whilst we have bought well from the lower leagues we do have considerable resources at Playford Road that are not delivering in the same way that the youth set up did in the Robson and Burley eras - the times we won FA Cup, UEFA Cup and a Play-off final, when we set ourselves up on the European stage.

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ipswich134 added 08:44 - Feb 7 People have poor memories. I remember when we first had money to spend we achieved nothing. Now people think spending can help us promote. I would have the same team and work our way up be it now or next season. IMO
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rfretwell added 08:51 - Feb 7 Wewerezombies, but that is changing now with the Academy and it will contribute more when we get cat 1 status and our youngsters play against Prem Academies. We have Bishop who is brilliant, Matt Clarke has made his debut, several others are starting to train with the first team, then coming up fast behind is Andre Dozzell England under 16 or 18, plus MM has come up trumps with Mings and has brought in other exciting youngsters from elsewhere.

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rfretwell added 08:53 - Feb 7 Apologies, add Hyam and Tommy Smith to that list
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jas0999 added 09:12 - Feb 7 There is no point being envious. I'm disappointed we didn't strengthen, but it's becoming more clear that ME doesn't want to to. However, as long as we don't start moaning about not having enough players or blaming having a small squad for a bad result then fair enough. If we miss out on promotion due to a lack of players, then the blame will rest with Evans.
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Ipswich58 added 09:16 - Feb 7 MM:'I don't do anything .. In transfer window.' His home spun homilies getting a bit boring and repetitive and he mentions 442. Please no. It's Rotherham who we should expect to beat. It's insulting our intelligence a little.
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bobble added 09:26 - Feb 7 time for a nice cold pint of cider with ice ,and a jump in the surf........
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rosseden added 09:40 - Feb 7 I wonder who he is referring to when he says 'the mob down the road'. Even mm having a dig at the participants now by the looks of things
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bluefeast added 09:57 - Feb 7 The championship is a war every match ,you need spirit above all else. We have that , therefore we have a damn good chance.
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muccletonjoe added 09:58 - Feb 7 There is something in what mm is saying. New signings can upset the apple cart, we just need to get the team firing again. Hopefully that can start today.
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heady added 10:01 - Feb 7 He got one thing wrong... There are A LOT of players out there that are better at playing out wide in a 4-4-2.
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BergholtBru added 10:14 - Feb 7 Ipswich58. I`m not sure you have any intelligence to insult!!
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Ipstones added 10:43 - Feb 7 This is all borne from jealousy of other clubs having signed high profile names not necessarily great players, though they may have been once. Have faith in the blues to keep us up there or there abouts because we all know deep down we are not the best team in the league, but they have raised expectations for everyone with the first half of the season's results. As MM said above new players will effect whatever teams good or bad when your dropping regular players for new ones ! I don't personally think there are many better players than what we have in the division at playing the way Mick wants us to play ( not everyone's cup of tea granted ) We have recently always come on strong with the second half of the season. So I for one am looking forward to at least a play off spot and so should everyone else!

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Kikapu added 11:10 - Feb 7 To buy or not to buy. The truth will out later, but I doubt the club have little choice financially.
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PSGBlue added 11:12 - Feb 7 Sometimes having money isn't everything. Keane and Jewwll are examples of that. But both MM and Joe Royle both showed that a team can be built with little or no money. The classic example being that of Jim Magilton. One of the best performances ever by an ITFC team when they beat Bristol City 6-0 at home with a squad on limited funds. The following week Evans bought the team and Magilton could not handle having buy players with funds in his pocket!

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warwickblue added 11:45 - Feb 7 I was listening to a football analyst, I think on Radio 4, last weekend. He said that January transfer signings can have a very mixed impact. Less than 50% of January signings play for more than 50% of minutes available in the matches remaining in the season; and the impact on squads/tactics can often be unintentionally disruptive. He also said that it is clubs who are floundering near the drop-zone who feel the greater pressure to make January signings as they try to buy themselves out of difficulty. I'm not saying that our current squad would not benefit from strengthening - watching them play without Murphy last weekend is enough to emphasise that- but, as always, I think Mick is talking far more sense than some give him credit for. He knows the Championship inside out - if there was a sensible deal to have been done last week, I think the players who some think would lead us to certain promotion would have been starting today!

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Seasider added 12:29 - Feb 7 Darren Bent has already proved his worth at Derby;but at last we can now be sure that it is Marcus Evans adherence to FFP that prevented Ipswich from strengthening further in the window,and not Micks lack of ambition{see his remarks above}. However like a lot of others on here would like to see other players given more game time to see what they can do,and hopefully give us a more entertaining game of footy to watch.Surely by sticking fairly rigidly to hoofball again in a 442 formation he is allowing other teams to negate our tactics. Why get someone like Jonny Parr and hardly play him,similarly Stuart,Henshall and Ambrose.A worrying similarity here is that they all have more flair than Tabb Anderson or 'the Hunt sisters' as Mick calls them.

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