A THREADBARE squad depleted by injuries and the exiting of loan players then loses out on a vital point due to a poor refereeing performance.

But Ipswich boss Paul Jewell refuses to ‘bleat’ about what might have been when it comes to assessing Town’s current woeful form in the Championship.

He is not looking for any excuses, only answers, as he bids to improve his depleted squad following this afternoon’s showdown with Blackpool at Portman Road.

While refusing to pinpoint any positions he wants to strengthen nor the amount of players he is aiming to bring in before the end of January, the manager remains confident about his activity in this month’s transfer window.

Jewell said: “We are pursuing players in all positions. Everyone knows we have to improve the team and the squad.

“We have a few injuries at the moment, but we won’t be bleating about it. We are where we are because we have not been good enough, not because of refereeing decisions or because of injuries.”

Acknowledging he is under pressure, Jewell, who this week passed his one-year milestone at Portman Road, thinks his past successes might have bought him some time.

He explained: “It has been a tough year and I am not going to hide behind the fact we have had a lot of poor results. As I keep saying, it is a work in progress and hopefully it is a long job.

“Maybe because I have been promoted twice from this league and been in the Premier League, maybe that is why I have had a bit more time than people might have thought.”

Jewell was yesterday unable to offer too much positive information regarding new transfers with any move from Sean St Ledger currently dead in the water. And he also refuted rumours linking him with Crawley Town top goalscorer Matt Tubbs.

But while he seems happy to sell Ronan Murray at the right price and allow Jaime Peters to go back out on loan, he admitted he had heard nothing from Tamas Priskin’s agent with the Hungarian international being linked to moves at home and abroad this week.

In fact, he refused to dismiss the possibility of Priskin pushing back into his first team thoughts while the striker remained at the club.