Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy is not bothered in the slightest that there will be no new loan recruits ahead of a crucial run of fixtures.

The Blues have dropped from second to seventh in the Championship table, their form over the last 10 games comfortably the worst among the promotion contenders.

A lengthy injury list is beginning to ease though, with the performance levels seen in last weekend’s 1-1 home draw with Brentford giving cause for optimism heading into a run of fixtures against Middlesbrough (away, 12.15pm tomorrow), Bolton (home, next Tuesday), Watford (away, next Saturday) and Bournemouth (home, Good Friday).

This paper understands that McCarthy has been told by owner Marcus Evans that his side must emerge from the next three games still in the promotion mix if an expensive loan signing is to be funded before the deadline of Thursday, March 26.

Asked what he says to supporters who feel he should have been backed more in the transfer market, McCarthy replied: “I don’t say anything. My thoughts on all of that have been made very clear. I do the job with the facilities and the players that I have and just take it all in my stride. I just get on with it.

“I don’t get that me; that you should be wishing for something. If it’s not there then there’s no point wishing for it. You do the best you can with what you’ve got. I think that’s why we’ve done so well, because we get on with it and are not always looking for something else.

“We are still pushing for promotion with 10 games to go. I don’t think there’s any point looking back and thinking ‘woe is me’ because woe isn’t me. Me is cracking on and trying to win promotion.”

He continued: “I’ve got nobody coming in at the moment. We don’t need anybody.

“I can almost hear somebody screaming at me now, saying; ‘What? Ten games to go and you don’t need anybody?!’

“Well what you need and what you can get are two different things. The majority of the players I’ve got have got us where we are and have been brilliant. And we’ve added Chris Wood, Reg (Luke) Varney and Freddie Sears to help. I’ll work with what I’ve got.”

Town will be able to call upon the fit-again duo of Kevin Bru and Stephen Hunt tomorrow, but the game has come too soon for striker David McGoldrick – who has only had three days of full training following a seven-game injury absence – while Luke Hyam, Darren Ambrose and Noel Hunt all remain sidelined.