CEO Mark Ashton says he’s hopeful Town will make further additions fairly shortly and that tireless work is going on behind the scenes as the Blues look to overhaul the squad ahead of the start of the season.

Town have so far only signed forward Wes Burns from Fleetwood and midfielder Lee Evans from Wigan, while West Brom’s Rekeem Harper is set to become the third new recruit as soon as West Brom rubber-stamp the move which is set to happen once they have confirmed their new manager.

Speaking to the Mark Murphy breakfast show on Radio Suffolk (3hs 11mins 27secs), Ashton said that further signings aren’t too far away.

“We came in as an ownership group, we’ve made some decisions on the playing side to let a number of players go, there's going to be a heavy turnaround of players,” he said.

“We’ve got a couple in already, there are more to come. As soon we’ve got them, as soon as they’re across the line, the fans will be the first to know.

“We are working tirelessly behind the scenes to get a number of players in and I’m quite hopeful we’ll have some new names arriving fairly shortly here.

“Paul [Cook] will be given the squad and team that he needs to win games. I think if we win games the fans will be behind us.”

Is he concerned that the signings might take a while to gel? “It always takes a little bit of time but it’s a long season.

“Looking at the fixture list. With all the cup competitions, we start in round one of the FA Cup, the Papa John’s and the Carabao Cup, the league, there are a lot of games and it’s going to take a little time I would think to bed everyone in.

“But I expect us to be really strong, be right at the top end of this division and competing for promotion.”

He added: “I think the whole pandemic has thrown football recruitment into the air at a lot of a football clubs. There have been managerial changes, there are clubs every year promoted and relegated.

“It takes a little bit of time to settle at the start of the season. It’s probably after eight or 10 games who’s who and what the squads are really like. But I expect us to be strong, I expect us to be competitive.

“What we’ve got to do is make Portman Road a fortress. We need the fans behind us, we need them in in as big a numbers as we can. We need the prime minister help us as we need to get fans back in to stadiums. This place can be a fortress. This place can help us win games of football and we need the fans back.”

Regarding the fixture list which was announced at 9am this morning, he said: "It’s suddenly become very real. I’m really excited. It was great to see we get off to a home opener here at Portman Road and just I think that once the fixture list comes out, it focuses minds because the clock is ticking to the opening day and we’re really excited.

“[Starting at home against Morecambe is] a great opportunity for us because we’re going to get the fans back.

“We’re still not sure until the prime minister makes his announcement how many we will get back, but just to get fans in serious numbers back into Portman Road I just think will be fantastic for everyone.”

He continued: “You always look at the first game, are you home, are you away? It’s great to get a home game to start with.

“Then you look at the big clubs, November and December, away against Sunderland, home against Sunderland.

“We go into the Christmas period, we’re at home on January 1st against Lincoln, who did so well under Michael Appleton last season. That’ll be a big game.

“Then you take a little look at the run-in and that’s interesting. We’ve got Wigan and Charlton at home in that last month of the season. They could be big games."

Photo: TWTD

Stato added 13:53 - Jun 24 I'm less concerned by the speed of recruitment and more concerned about the quality. We have been promised. A squad of championship standard players and that's what we now expect.
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buzbyblue added 14:09 - Jun 24 Amen Bossman, quality over quantity......
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Barty added 14:17 - Jun 24 I have every confidence in PC & our new owners to bring in decent players
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OwainG1992 added 14:18 - Jun 24 Burns is a very good signing at this level. Lee Evans is capable of playing in the championship without a doubt. Can't wait to see the next 5 or 6 names.
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BeattiesBackPocket added 14:28 - Jun 24 And there was me thinking a few people on here knew more than the people at the club and nothing was happening with signings and that the Harper signing was dead when most of us knew the latter wouldn't happen till their manager was appointed and that most signings wouldn't be announced until July 1st 🙄 Regarding championship players some need to get real we may get them but they won't be top of the championship signings. Fact we beat a couple of championship clubs to Evans and the young lad Harper from West Brom gives me the confidence that Ashton and Cook know what's needed More than a handful of fans on here!

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Colin_Viljoen added 14:30 - Jun 24 Ashton.........Lincoln at home that will be a big game! No Real Madrid at home was a big game!
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Suffolk_n_Proud added 14:31 - Jun 24 I'd rather not have a squad of Championship players. We've had that the last 2 seasons and it didn't work. We should be recruiting the best in League 1, then worry about Championship quality when we get there. Look what Newcastle did when they came down to Championship, bought all the best players in that league, including Daryl Murphy who had just banged in 27 goals for us, got promoted then recruited again

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Suffolk_n_Proud added 14:31 - Jun 24 I'd rather not have a squad of Championship players. We've had that the last 2 seasons and it didn't work. We should be recruiting the best in League 1, then worry about Championship quality when we get there. Look what Newcastle did when they came down to Championship, bought all the best players in that league, including Daryl Murphy who had just banged in 27 goals for us, got promoted then recruited again

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blues1 added 14:35 - Jun 24 Boss man. We havent been promised anything other than they want players who are better than weve had. And that championship standard is what theyll try to get. That doesnt necessarily mean signing players from the championship neither. Just players capable of playing at that level. Which the 1st 2 signings are, and if indeed the harper deal does go through will be a 3rd. My guess is tho, that most signings will come from other lge1 sides. And frankly, that's all we need at this stage. Pick up the best from this lge to try to get us up then go from there. Getting players to drop down from the championship is frankly unlikely, especially with the limit on wages. And most fans will know that.

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EricsGate added 14:36 - Jun 24 46 games 46 wins 138 points 100 goals COYB
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Monkey_Blue added 14:42 - Jun 24 Suffolk N Proud. The best league one players want to play in the championship. Newcastle had a budget for wages we can't match relatively. You do understand the wage cap don't you? It doesn't matter what we can pay in fees, the wage budget is 60% of turnover and the new owners cash doesn't count to the wage cap. Burns seems a good signing, and evans? Hardly pulled up trees last year but he may be a good addition. Given we need another 12 or more signings to match the claims they have made I'm not sure we can do what you think we can.

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RobITFC added 14:43 - Jun 24 Suffolk and pride, we did not have championship players last season ...most of the ones that have left are now playing league 2 , the others being told to leave were just lazy!
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stiffy501 added 15:03 - Jun 24 Think we're all hopeful there will be some more coming in very soon lol
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Radlett_blue added 15:37 - Jun 24 "Portman Road a fortress". Please find some new cliches!
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Rolosmith added 15:39 - Jun 24 I don't remember anyone at the club stating 'we will get a squad of championship players', and anyone who believes that is in for a shock. We will get a squad of good league 1 players and a few who have the potential to step up over time, but certainly not a whole squad of championship players.
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runaround added 15:41 - Jun 24 (Fairly) sure that some signings will (hopefully) happen (fairly) soon Hopefully
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Bazza8564 added 15:52 - Jun 24 Monkey Blue is right to call out the wage cap, its absolutely crucial to the position. But in my view we dont necessarily need another 12 signings, we need to shift players out in volume and (broadly) sign half as many as we've lost. Salary cap is on total spend not average salary. We can afford fees, we can therefore afford good players. What we cannot currently do is offer them attractive wages until we have sold some volume on, and got wages for players who are down the pecking order and / or expensive. Forget about league one for a moment, the club is big enough to be in a bigger league. The right players on the right money will come. Our squad was massive last season, it will be smaller this year for sure, but that helps us pay a better wage to an incoming player because we haven't got all the costs associated with 43 full time professions. 18 including loanees have gone, lets assume we shed another 5/6 minimum (guessing Bishops, Lanks, Downes, Jackson and Holy for argument's sake). That would see 24 out, 19 remaining plus two in so far is 21. Already we have the wage bill down massively. If we recruit another 6 or so we would have 27. If we shift more out, even on loan, then Monkey Blue's 12 isnt far off With 27-30 players rather than 43, we create enough headroom to pay the wages it takes to get those better players here. We then start winning football matches, crowds and revenues increase and our ability to recruit gets even stronger. Its a huge juggling act, as soon as July 1 is here, it will all start to happen, and the more mediocrity we shift out the more quality we can afford to bring in. Ashton is a clever fella and he knows exactly what he is doing. We just need to be a little more patient and trust the team to do what they do best.

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PortmanTerrorist added 16:07 - Jun 24 "It always takes a little bit of time but it's a long season" ? First sign of confidence waning. So long as lack of confidence does not turn to excuses. Had my fill of those. I appreciate we need more, better players, but am a little worried that our new manager who has such great capabilities cannot elevate even a decent amount of the old squad to his level ?!

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runningout added 16:35 - Jun 24 Not sure Harper deal will happen, so be it
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Suffolk_n_Proud added 18:03 - Jun 24 Thank you Monkey blue, I do understand the wage cap, which is why we should sign the best league 1 players as championship players have higher wages And I said we've had a championship squad the last 2 seasons because most of our squad played in the championship before our relegation and we've constantly been told over the last 2 years how we have one of the beat squads in the league with all that championship experience

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chopra777 added 18:10 - Jun 24 It will be difficult to mould a team if we have late arrivals. .I honestly see sub standard performances because players will be learning from each other. Expect the ex ipswich crew of Colchester to give us a nasty surprise. Sorry to be negative but we now have two trainng squads. I just hope we can be injury free leading up to the start of season.. Yes in two years we can have a good challenging squad but the summer of hope has not happened yet.

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BeattiesBackPocket added 18:44 - Jun 24 Portmanterrorist so you want to continue with players who don't want to be here or who as a lot of people have commented aren't up to the job?
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Bergholtblue added 19:42 - Jun 24 I notice that he used the word "hopeful" and not "certain" and if we don't get these new faces in, what next? Grab the next best thing, like Keane did when he couldn't get the players he wanted? Try to motivate those who remain having been told that they are not good enough? I hope Paul Cook gets his men and is as good a manager as we think his is because so far his man management skills have been somewhat lacking.

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Cadiar added 22:13 - Jun 24 Let's hope some deals go through very soon as we need a 1st team squad. As reported in EADT 6 senior players to train with under 23s. Only surprise for me is Dobra who is a very saleable asset & was one of a very few who did well after Cook came in. Also a bit surprised to see Donacien in the 1st team squad. We really do need players in asap
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Linkboy13 added 23:09 - Jun 24 Ashdon saying hopeful dosent inspire confidence.
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