Town boss Kieran McKenna says the Blues are really happy with their January transfer window business, which saw four senior players added to the squad.

Massimo Luongo joined on a short-term contract after leaving Middlesbrough, George Hirst signed on loan from Leicester, Nathan Broadhead was signed for £1.5 million from Everton and Harry Clarke was brought back to his hometown club from Arsenal, the club he moved to from the academy in 2015.

Tuesday’s deadline day passed quietly in terms of additions with the Blues already having made their signings.

“I think we are really happy with the business we did,” McKenna said. “I think there was a lot of preparation that went into it in the months leading up to it — and also in the summer.

“Some of the players that came in were also targets in the summer and it has been an ongoing process in identifying those players and communicating with them from the summer onwards.

“We are really happy with the players that came through the door. We’ve added three really young players who really fit our profile, two of which who are on long-term contracts and are assets and really important players for the future of this football club.

“And George Hirst on loan who is of course a really good fit for us and someone we are interested in working with in the short and long term.

“Massimo Luongo is a different profile and an experienced senior player with fantastic experience and personality, who adds to the group and comes into a really strong senior leadership team of the likes of Sami [Morsy], Richard Keogh, Sone Aluko and players of that ilk who all have a massive role to play in terms of looking after the squad and developing the culture in the dressing room.

“Really happy with all the signings. Happy with the way that we’ve tried to work to a plan and do our preparation and do our work early.

“The ownership have given us fantastic support. [CEO] Mark [Ashton] and the recruitment team have done a really good job behind the scenes as well and the coaching staff have also worked really hard in terms of identifying players who will fit into our playing style.

“We’re happy with what’s been added. Of course, it’s now about the games ahead and how as a group, not just the new players but the squad, can find the best if ourselves on the pitch and we think that the players coming in will certainly help us for the rest of the season and beyond.”

Did the signings tick all the boxes he had hoped to tick going into the window? “You always stay open to one or two possibilities. I think the four players and the four positions that came in we felt were really important additions for us and things that we needed to do and wanted to do in the window.

“You always leave yourself some flexibility in the window if certain players or profiles become available, so we were flexible until the last day but the four players who came in certainly ticked the boxes in all categories of what we really prioritised for this window.”

Photo: TWTD

Ipswichbusiness added 18:31 - Feb 2 Interesting reference to looking forward to working with Hirst in the long term. It sounds as if they want him to be a permanent signing.
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Saxonblue74 added 19:02 - Feb 2 I picked up on that too Ipswichbusiness. I think he considers himself better than lge1, so much could depend on promotion.
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