Former Ipswich Town boss Joe Royle, now a youth development coach at Everton, has a message for current Blues boss Mick McCarthy – ‘you know where I am if you need any loanees’.

Royle, who twice lost play-off semi-finals against West Ham during his administration-hit spell in charge of the Suffolk club, has backed Ipswich to kick on again in 2015/16 following their recent play-off defeat to rivals Norwich.

And with McCarthy keen to strengthen his squad – wingers and another striker at the top of his wish-list – a link-up with Roberto Martinez’s Premier League Toffees could be an option.

“It’s my job to get players out on loan and, you never know, one might end up at Ipswich at some stage,” said Royle, who works alongside former Town loanee David Unsworth at Goodison Park.

“Mick and Terry (Connor) are both good mates of mine, they know where I am and, if they wanted someone that was available, I’d push for something to get sorted.”

Everton have loaned out the likes of defenders Luke Garbutt (Colchester) and Tyias Browning (Wigan), winger Matthew Kennedy (Cardiff) and strikers Chris Long (Brentford) and Conor McAleny (Cardiff) in recent years, while defender Brendan Galloway and midfielder Ryan Ledson made their first-team breakthroughs towards the end of last season.

Royle – who follows Ipswich’s fortunes closely from afar – said: “The hangover that comes from missing out in the play-offs is nowhere near as bad as the one you suffer after relegation, that’s for sure.

“Mick and Terry are experienced and know what they are doing. I am sure they will get everyone going again.

“It’s not a case of assessing where things went wrong, because nothing went wrong. It’s a case of assessing where they can strengthen further and I’m sure Mick has a few irons in the fire.”

He added: “The Championship is quite an ordinary division, in my opinion. It’s been a long time since a team broke clear and left everyone behind at the top. Bournemouth, Watford and Brentford have all done well on a budget and Ipswich are a far bigger club than all of them.

“The teams that have come down will find it hard to adjust, while a club like Blackburn may have to sell. Ipswich, by contrast, look pretty settled. And there’s a lot to be said for that.”