IPSWICH TOWN: Roy Keane has told Blues fans that he doesn’t have a magic wand, and that life is not going to get any easier.

Leading Town to the semi-finals of the Carling Cup is a notable achievement by Keane, but a dramatic slip down the Championship table on the back of a succession of lack lustre displays has led to his popularity plummeting among supporters.

Defeat against third-in-the-table Swansea City at Portman Road tomorrow (kick-off 12.45pm) will quickly remove the euphoria that followed Wednesday’s quarter-final cup victory over West Brom.

“Getting to the last four of the Carling Cup is a real bonus,” said Keane.

“But that is what it is, and we have a very important game against Swansea – the hardest match we could have had.

“I don’t have a magic wand and I can’t say it’s all going to be fine from now on.

“It’s not going to get any easier with tough games coming up.”

With cup games against Chelsea and Arsenal in early January any doubts that Keane’s job was in immediate danger have been erased, but he knows enough about the game – and is worldly wise enough – to understand what his fate will be if the current league position is not considerably improved by the end of February.

“We’ve had problem after problem this season and have lacked strength in depth to deal with the massive number of injuries we’ve had,” added Keane.

“But injuries are part of football, and when results are not being obtained you have to look at yourself and have to accept criticism.

“I can understand the frustrations of our supporters, and better managers than me have gone through difficult spells.

“Hopefully we can now steady the ship, but there is no guarantee although we have a full strength side we are not a bad Championship side.”

Revenue from the live televising of the two-legged Arsenal tie and from a 43,000 crowd at Stamford Bridge will help Keane look to bring in fresh faces in January.

“It’s a case of looking to survive over the rest of this month and steady the ship before we get key players fit again.”

Tomorrow’s likely squads

Ipswich Town: Murphy, Zuiverloon, Peters, Brown, Smith, Delaney, O’Dea, Eastman, O’Connor, Edwards, Leadbitter, Norris, Colback, Livermore, Townsend, Civelli, Healy, Priskin, Scotland, Fallon, Murray, Fulop, Lee-Barrett.

Swansea City: De Vries, Tate, Williams, Serran, Agustien, Rangel, Pratley, Gower, Dobbie, Monk, Sinclair, Dyer, Allen, Beattie, van der Gun, Makaba-Makalamby, Cotterill, Orlandi, Taylor, Richards.

Referee: Mr A D’Urso (Essex)

Ipswich home league record against Swansea

P12 W6 D3 L3 F24 A17