IPSWICH Town’s owner and chairman, Marcus Evans, has revealed that he WILL be giving manager Paul Jewell the money to invest in new players this summer.

IPSWICH Town’s owner and chairman, Marcus Evans, has revealed that he WILL be giving manager Paul Jewell the money to invest in new players this summer.

Mr Evans has shared in the disappointment of Town supporters, following another below-par season at Portman Road – Town are stuck in mid-table with just two games left.

Jewell has plans to revamp his squad for next season, and he will receive the financial backing from his owner.

“We will definitely be investing in the playing squad in the summer,” confirmed Mr Evans, ahead of today’s final home game of the season against Preston.

“Simon (Clegg) and myself have already had several meetings and Paul is aware of what we are looking at financially.

“I’m not going to say how much I intend to invest in the summer. However, I do intend to ensure the necessary resources are available to put together a competitive squad for next season.

“Inevitably there will be players leaving as well. That’s the nature of football.

“But Paul has his targets. He has a list of players he wants to bring in and we are working on making that happen now, we have been for a while.

“As I’m sure Town fans are aware, we have contract offers out to a number of players and discussions are ongoing with some players.

“Those negotiations will influence the players and positions we target. That will be down to the manager but we will be adding to the squad regardless,” added Mr Evans.

Defender Gareth McAuley and skipper David Norris are the two main senior players who have yet to sign new deals.

Meanwhile, Mr Evans, who rarely gives interviews to the media, insisted that he had no regrets about the timing of former manager Keane’s dismissal.

Keane was axed in early January, when the club were hovering just three points above the relegation zone. His successor Jewell has lost no time in pushing Town up the table.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing,” continued Mr Evans.

“Obviously I’m delighted that Paul has come in and more than steadied the ship.

“His brief was simple when we made him manager of Ipswich Town. Keep us up. He has achieved that with plenty to spare.

“I’ve seen some headlines and comment saying if we had made the change earlier we may have made those play-offs, but I wanted to give Roy (Keane) as long as possible to get the team back on course.

n A full interview with Marcus Evans is in today’s official match-day programme for the Preston game.