TAMAS Priskin is going nowhere!Ipswich Town boss Roy Keane has come to a decision over his �1.7m man, following rival clubs expressing an interest in signing the Hungarian international.

Carl Marston

TAMAS Priskin is going nowhere!

Ipswich Town boss Roy Keane has come to a decision over his �1.7m man, following rival clubs expressing an interest in signing the Hungarian international.

QPR had been leading the chase to sign Priskin, and were planning to make a bid to snap him up. But Keane has decided to keep faith with his out-of-sorts striker.

"Tamas is going nowhere. Tamas is staying at the football club," insisted Keane.

"The boy deserves a chance. I think that he's a talented player.

"Some players take longer than others to settle in. I think our fans have been very, very patient with Tamas so far, and maybe we all have to be a little more patient with him.

"Sometimes, it's up to me and my coaching staff to get a little bit more out of him. Tamas is going to be a part of our squad, definitely."

Priskin, since his big-money summer move from Watford, has managed just one league goal all season, and has often struggled to break into Keane's 18-man squad.

Keane has admitted that other clubs have been tracking his 23-year-old front-man, but he is hopeful that the target man will finally finds his feet at Portman Road, rather than somewhere else.

"Tamas is a player we've obviously gauged and we've had plenty of enquiries about him," continued Keane.

"But I made a decision the other night. My gut feeling is that he's going to stay with us. He has missed out on a few squads, and he hasn't had that many minutes on the pitch.

"People go on about him as a goalscorer, but our top goalscorer has only got six and Tamas has got two (in all competitions), while he's probably played the least among of all the strikers.

"We all need to be a little patient. I know there comes a point when the patience runs out, don't get me wrong, but he deserves more of an opportunity and he's going to get that with all the games coming up,"

added Keane.

Priskin is in the squad for today's trip to Preston North End, as Town try to pull themselves further away from the Championship relegation zone. They are currently four places and five points clear of the bottom three.

After a month in the wilderness, Priskin has appeared as a substitute during the second half of Town's last two games, and he had chances to score both at Southampton and against West Brom on Tuesday night.

Keane is encouraged: "Tamas has had chances. Some strikers never get a chance and spend half their time standing on the wing!

"I think he needs a run of games. He's not the most outgoing of people, but that's not a bad thing. He's still a young lad learning his trade."