FOLLOWING the departures this week of Brian Laws from Burnley and Darren Ferguson from Preston North End, Ipswich Town boss Roy Keane says that he’s happy to still have the chance to change things around at Portman Road.

He needs good results in this weekend’s Championship matches at Coventry today and at home to Nottingham Forest (kick-off 3pm) on Monday to avoid being dragged into a battle at the foot of the table.

While Preston are bottom of the table, Burnley are nine places and five points better off than 18th placed Town.

Many Ipswich fans fed up with yet another nondescript calendar year consider Keane to be a lucky man and that club owner Marcus Evans is showing too much patience with the former Manchester United star.

Others still have faith in him, and will be looking for Town to build on their 3-0 win over Leicester City in their last game over the next three days.

“I’m happy to still have a chance to turn things around,” said Keane, who made it plain yesterday that he is not going anywhere and wants to stay until his contract runs out in June at least.

“I’ll continue doing my best and we’ll see what happens.

“It’s not nice when managers lose their jobs, but that’s the way it is and you have to get on with it.

“We all know people who have lost their jobs recently from all divisions and you wonder where it will stop, but appears to be the nature of the game.

“Managers come and go I’m afraid.”

Five Championship managers have left their jobs this season – a statistic that Coventry City boss Aidy Boothroyd finds as depressing as it is predictable.

“The survival expectancy is down to 11 or 12 months,” he said.

“The days of managers being at clubs for seven or eight years have gone. You’ve got Sir Alex, Arsene Wenger, David Moyes, Dario Gradi – although he goes in and out of the revolving door when he fancies it – but I can’t think of many others.

“It takes time to be a good manager and sometimes a lot of luck.

“You have to look at the squad you’re inheriting, the players you can bring in, the support you’re going to get from your chairman and what sort of chairman he is – one who wants to pick your team or one that will help you do what you want to do. “There’s also the expectations of the fans, the size of the club, the potential, who you can bring with you, what you can do.

“There are so many things to consider but at the end of the day you can’t say no because it’s a job and you’ve got to pay your mortgage.

“That’s in my case, I’m not so sure about Roy!”

Today’s likely squads

Coventry City : Westwood, Keogh, McPake, Cameron, Wood, Bell, Carsley, Doyle, Eastwood, King, Platt, Ireland, Jutkiewicz, Cranie, Baker, Wilson, O’Halloran, Clarke, Thomas.

Ipswich Town: Fulop, Brown, Delaney, Smith, Kennedy, Norris, Leadbitter, Colback, Edwards, Scotland, Fallon, Lee-Barrett, Eastman, O’Dea, Livermore, Peters, Priskin, Wickham, Murray, Healy.

Referee: Mr R J Booth (Nottinghamshire)