Town boss Mick McCarthy doesn’t expect to have any new faces in his squad ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup third round tie against Lincoln City at Portman Road, but says there has been loan interest in fringe defender or midfielder Paul Digby.

“I doubt very much we’ll have anybody in before Saturday,” said McCarthy, whose primary aim is to add to his strike force.

“We’re still looking for strikers and so far we’re not having any joy, we’re just getting the same custard pies in the face.”

He says he’s not had any other bosses calling him up about his senior players: “No, managers are not ringing me up. I get agents who ring me up and try and tell me that people are interested but I don’t take any notice of that because they’re just trying to drum up business.”

One player who there is interest in is 21-year-old Digby, who has recovered from the knee injury which had sidelined him in recent weeks.

“Diggers is fit, he’s training and there are a couple of clubs interested in taking him on loan and if the others are coming back fit I would consider that,” he said.

McCarthy paid tribute to Luke Varney, who joined Burton Albion on an 18-month deal yesterday with his Blues’ contract due to come to an end on January 12th.

“Luke’s been great,” McCarthy continued. “I think it’s been a pretty symbiotic deal, we’ve been good for each other because when he snapped his achilles against Norwich we looked after him and he was really grateful for that. I’m not sure too many clubs would have done that.

“And he’s repaid us, he’s repaid us with his personality around the place and his performances some important goals this season.”

Meanwhile, 20-year-old New Zealand international Monty Patterson has returned to the Blues at the end of his loan with Vanarama National League Braintree.

Photo: TWTD

dugoutdave added 16:55 - Jan 5 The only thing i am surprised about is that we are surprised !
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planetblue_2011 added 17:10 - Jan 5 Yes I like custard pie Mick - tasty
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Delilah77 added 17:19 - Jan 5 Call me sinical but I reckon have Evans has said if we lose on Sat you are gone hence no transfer activity till after then And secondly Luke Chambers is off and his new team don't want him cup tied Just a thought
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Cloddyseedbed added 17:23 - Jan 5 Ipswich now have a reputation of a poor footballing side with tight financial controls on playing staff and difficulty displacing who is already in the team.A manager whose future, if we're all honest is uncertain. Any prospective signing would have to think long and hard before signing for us. Not that many years ago if they came to Ipswich they knew that would get a fair crack at the whip. Personally I see no no sense at all in getting rid of somebody just to replace him with somebody who is no better or sometimes worse, just to make the numbers up. No doubt out business will be carried out at the end of the window when just the left overs are available and we are once again going to be underwelmed. I hate feeling so fed up about it but it's what we've all become used to. Being underwelmed.

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Cloddyseedbed added 17:24 - Jan 5 *our
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jas0999 added 17:30 - Jan 5 Perhaps the club should have thought of that prior to selling Murphy. I suspect we will end up with loans and lots of laughable spin. If a club wanted £500K for a player, Evans would probably offer £100K. Although I accept the argument that there is plenty of time and this in theory is only day 5, the point remains we urgently need to sign a striker after the failure in the last window. Ypu would have thought having four months to plan it the deal would have been virtually in place or discussions taken place and at very advanced stages prior to 1 Jan. sadly, our club isn't run that well nowadays.

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Cakeman added 17:32 - Jan 5 I agree Prebsa. Not because I have anything against Digby but we are are paying money for someone who has no hope of breaking into the first team unless we are heavily strapped with injuries. The same applies to Coke as well. All dead money. PS Have I missed something with Leon Best? Why is he not getting a chance just now or is that more money we are wasting. At this rate we won't have enough left to buy paint for refreshing the turnstiles, they must be due a new lick of paint!

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martin587 added 17:33 - Jan 5 Cloodyseedbed,sorry I down marked you,it should have been a plus.sorry.!!
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Keanos_Barmy added 17:34 - Jan 5 Remember where you read it first - Patrick Bamford being lined up to sign on loan until the end of the season.
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Warkys_Tash added 17:49 - Jan 5 Keanos barmy - Why the minus? It was true about BFJ, that's why he left. He could do no more with the resources available. Hence the job went to a Magic. Anyway, I hope you are right about Bamford but in reality you are in cloud cuckoo land - he will never come here. Why would he?
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therein61 added 18:24 - Jan 5 We get a custard pie in the face every time you select Skuse and Douglas, as usual with Mick he's getting his excuses in early as no decent player in his right mind would come here unless they are past it journeymen!! hope I'm wrong.
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carsey added 18:25 - Jan 5 Regarding Digby - and I haven't seen anything of him - but when he was signed a year ago he was described on this very site as a "central midfielder". McCarthy was the one claiming he was a centre back or right back. May be if he was used in the middle instead of Douglas he could have an impact. As an aside the same article introducing Digby also mentions the impending exit of Jonny Parr. Wonder how things might have worked out if he had been playing right back instead of Chambers.

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Taricco_Fan added 18:51 - Jan 5 "Diggers" FFS.
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sixtyblue added 18:51 - Jan 5 putting Gerken in on Saturday is giving Lincoln a goal start as always guaranteed at least one fumble,or maybe baikowski is being sold.
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Pilgrimblue added 18:52 - Jan 5 I've got no confidence in MM/ME. It's a mess and as has been said we'll end up seeing a couple of loans. MM has had 5 months to sort it all out but it seems he's just found out that we need to sign striker/right back/attacking mid. It beggars belief!!
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heathen66 added 18:53 - Jan 5 The scouts need to get off their backsides and start doing their job. There are Jamie Vardys (or even Freddie Sears) out there, perhaps in the second tier in Belgium, France Holland or even in this country in League Two who know where the goal is and will be worth a punt. The only stumbling block is whether they can get into the side, as this will mean dropping Pitman or McGoldrick. We need a box to box CM (with just any pace) that will complement the guile of Bru and the skill of Lawrence, a bit like Tommy Miller. Every other side has them in abundance but we seem to persevere with the ineffective pedestrians. I would prefer someone younger, but perhaps a Bradley Dack from Gillingham (btw he is 31)

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Taricco_Fan added 19:01 - Jan 5 The trouble is, even if we've been proactive and had transfer targets lined-up for weeks/months, there's next to no money available to finalise them. Most clubs in this division can easily out-bid us, so to this extent I feel a little sorry for McCarthy.
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SohoBlue added 19:08 - Jan 5 It's a big footballing world. There must be a striker somewhere we could bring in to liven things up, and a creative midfielder with a point to prove. South America? Italian lower leagues? Get some entertainment and passion back into the style of football, give Dozell and Lawrence a reason to stay. Give Benyu a run out...someone with raw pace would be a bonus... throw us a frickin' bone, Mick... get opponents guessing again or fearing pace/a relative unknown!

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bluesince76 added 19:49 - Jan 5 Itfc is now a mickey mouse club ran by wasters.
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patthegimp added 20:04 - Jan 5 No Bart .Is he gone then? Sh..t. Suggests Mevan decision with MM having no say. W are flocked
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BrettenhamBlue added 20:35 - Jan 5 Er. Obvious statement but surely we should have signed Varney to the end of the season if we knew we were going to have real trouble getting in replacements? Cakeman - performances have dropped Best down the pecking order. He's not the worst striker we have ever had, but not much good either.
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BrettenhamBlue added 20:40 - Jan 5 Only 53 transfers done in the league so far so early days. Two of them involve us (Varney and Benyu).
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Bildestoned added 21:05 - Jan 5 Currently watching Doncaster V Portsmouth on't tele. If only we looked HALF as exciting as the former.
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commuterblue added 21:27 - Jan 5 The obvious answer PJewelisagod is that it is very hard for a 6 month contract to compete with an 18 month contract
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blues1 added 21:39 - Jan 5 For God's sake get a grip. It's just 5 days into the window so hardly a major problem as yet that we've signed no1. Very few deals have been done by anyone at this time. The time to start whinging and criticising the club is if we still havent got ne1 in with a few days to go. Or is it just a requirement for some to have to use every study on here to have a go. I'm as keen as ne1 for us to sign a couple of players but its way too early to be slating the club. Or could look very silly if we sign some1 in a few days time. All that's been said is he's not expecting ne1 before Sat, which is hardly a problem, were playing lincoln ( famous last words.lol.). Doesn't mean we're not trying.

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