Town boss Paul Cook says the squad is still not “finished off” with some areas still needing strengthening, despite the Blues having already made 14 senior signings this summer.

It’s been an unusually quiet few days at Portman Road with no new additions since the signing of free agent Kyle Edwards and Hayden Coulson on loan from Middlesbrough on Monday.

Asked whether he is still planning to bring more players in, Cook said: “I think, as you know, our pursuit of putting the squad together has been non-stop from the end of last season.

“And in periods when you go three, four, five, six days without signing anybody, it doesn’t mean you’re not trying.

“I think [CEO] Mark Ashton will have earned a well-deserved rest if that’s possible for Mark after the window closes because he’s been so active, literally every single day.

“Within that, sometimes things go your way sometimes and things don’t go your way sometimes.

“For us, we just keep going, we try and be as professional as we can be. We’re trying to make decisions every day and we would still expect players to come through the door, 100 per cent.

“We’ve got areas of the pitch where we need to be stronger, and that’s an ongoing process.”

Coulson became the club’s third loanee of the summer, Macauley Bonne having rejoined his hometown club from QPR and Louie Barry from Aston Villa. Might there be more joining them?

“Again, I can’t be drawn into everything,” Cook said. “The squad is not finished off. We’ve seen three lads leave in [Andre] Dozzell, [Liam] Gibbs and Flynn Downes”.

“People don’t really want to publicise it when you sell players, they just want to speak about when you buy them, that’s just football.

“Within that we’ve bought players, we’ve brought frees in, we’ve put a whole new squad together and that process is still ongoing. That process will carry on now post the transfer window shutting.

“Big clubs are always looking actively to improve and Ipswich Town now is, and always has been, a big club.

“Off the pitch we must try and progress alongside what happens on the pitch and that’s in recruitment and progression and not just trying to sign players for every window trying to gain success.

“That’s a little bit of a way towards the madhouse. What we’re trying to do is put building blocks in place which will last a long time at our club.”

Cook says there’s no pressure from loan clubs to start their players: “No, I think as a parent club for any player today, I think the reason 90 per cent of the time you probably loan your players out is for them to gain first-team experience by playing.

“The reality for when young lads, if we talk about Louie Barry for example, go out on loan for the first time, I can name quite a few first-time loans which haven’t really worked out for players, who have gone on to be very, very top international footballers.

“The reality is for young lads for Louie, and I’m just using Louis as an example, gaining that experience, getting the opportunities to play and hopefully cementing your place in the first team is a fantastic plan.

“Along the way, you’ve got to be good enough, and I’m only using Louie Barry as an example of that, I’m not speaking about Louie Barry as a player.

“For us again, when we loan players out, we want them to go out and play, we want them to gain experience, but they’ve got to be good enough to play in the team.

“They’re the challenges for any loan player going out, especially the younger ones. For us, [CEO] Mark Ashton, myself, [chief operating officer] Luke [Werhun], we’re just continually trying to put a squad together where we can say ‘right, that’s us now, let the wind get behind our sails and let’s start going forward’.”

The side which faced Newport on Tuesday included a number of young players, Armando Dobra, Bailey Clements, Cameron Humphreys and Corrie Ndaba among them. Might some of them now be allowed out on loan?

“Again, you’re asking me a million different questions about squads and stuff,” Cook said. “We just want to focus on Burton Albion at the minute.

“One of the things that happens, issues get spoken about too much. We’ve got one focus at the minute, and that’s Burton Albion tomorrow.

“I watched Jimmy’s team on Wednesday night and they’re a very good side, very disciplined, well organised and they’ve got a lot of good players.

“So rather than speaking about squads and loans and players and individuals, let’s just concentrate on Burton Albion for the time being.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Len_Brennan added 10:24 - Aug 13 He's not a big fan of getting questions at his Press Conferences, is our Paul.
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BeattiesBackPocket added 10:32 - Aug 13 Centre half has to be the focus that was clearly i weakest point past week too many mistakes in nsiala and woolfenden for me however with some experience at the back this may change how they play but we need an organiser.
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BlueySwede added 10:41 - Aug 13 I absolutely like and I believe in Cookie, but I must say am not a fan of managers setting the rules about what journalists can ask about (maybe since I am one my self). If you don´t like the questions you could always answers "I don´t know", "We´ll see what happens", etc. I see nothing wrong in asking when a player is expeceted to be fit, ask about team news, etc, it´s a big part of what fans want to know and relevant questions. Lambert was like that as well (but way worse), it just doesn´t come across very well, especially in text). COYB!

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legoman added 11:35 - Aug 13 It must be very difficult to be a journalist at times when you are expected to ask really stupid questions.
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johnwarksshorts added 11:49 - Aug 13 I think PC has a good relationship with the press and answers questions honestly but at the same time he's not going to role over and let the press dictate things.
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BeattiesBackPocket added 11:51 - Aug 13 Blueyswede I agree to a point but should a manager divulge everything about the team before the game?? All that does is help the opposition? Let them think we have our strongest side or let them think people are injured all these interviews do is help the opposition. Fair enough after the game 100% but not before
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bucket99 added 11:55 - Aug 13 I don't blame Cook for doing that at all. If he says something about someone's injury this week, he'll be unable to rebuff questions about it every time a microphone is stuck in his face for weeks. It's a waste of his time, and a waste of ours too. Realistically, all pre-match interviews are pretty formulaic because, as Cook says, you don't want to give anything anyway. He's making sure that the players don't come under any extra pressure too. All he wants them to do is focus, focus, focus on the game, the drills, the patterns.

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shakytown added 12:36 - Aug 13 I hope you have some centre backs lined up as what we have are very dodgy at best.
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JewellintheTown added 19:56 - Aug 13 Those pointing out we need centre backs are mad if they think Cook doesn't already know that! I'm sure they've plenty of irons in the fire, but that clearly doesn't mean we get who we want, when we want & for how much want. We've done brilliant so far so I don't see us settling for obvious gaping holes in the squad. We're only as good as our weakest link. I'm confident we'll get that fixed before window closes.

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