ONE point from a possible six may not be quite what Roy Keane was hoping for but any suggestions that he will now settle for anything less than promotion will have been given short thrift.

Derek Davis

ONE point from a possible six may not be quite what Roy Keane was hoping for but any suggestions that he will now settle for anything less than promotion will have been given short thrift.

Keane has said that anything less than promotion inside two years will be regarded as a failure and if it doesn't happen this season then he certainly expects Town to be in there as contenders.

Asked if he had adjusted his expectation on the back of the loss at Coventry and a goalless draw at home against newly promoted Leicester City drew an unequivocal response.

“You want me to lower them after two games? No way.”

Keane clearly wants better from his players, starting against Crystal Palace tomorrow night, and was already accentuating the good points from Saturday.

“It is another challenge for us Tuesday night.

“The positives for us are a clean sheet, a point and the players hung in there when we weren't at the races and that was a positive for me.

“Football is difficult when you don't feel at your best and we got something from the game when on another day we might not have.”

Keane will hope new �1.7m striker Tamas Priskin settles in and gets off the mark quickly and after being away with Hungary last week, an extra couple of days at Portman Road may help.

Keane said: “He has only had two training sessions at the club so it will come. He is a good player he will be fine.”

With just one point gleaned from two league games, with the 4-3-3 formation being used at Coventry and again in the first half against Leicester with Jon Stead the point man, there is a chance Keane will start with two up front against Palace with Priskin starting.

He said: “We look at it every day in training. I'm lucky with the group of players we have that we can adapt. Even when we changed at half time I knew it would not be a problem.

“We just play it by ear and see what is right on the day.”

Town certainly looked better second half on Saturday and Keane put it down to a bad day at the office but is confident things will improve.

He said: “We made it hard for ourselves and were not sharp enough with our passing but that will come in the coming weeks.

“It is only my fifth game at the club so it is only right we try different players and systems. When you lose a player like (David) Norris you have to look at something else but as a manger you have to adapt.”

To compound matters Jaime Peters is now a doubt after turning an ankle and given the chances City had Keane was glad to take a point in the end.

He said: “They probably had the better chances, particularly first half so it was a fair result.

“We were all disappointed with the way we played in the first half.

“It took us a while to get going last week as well so something needs to be looked at.”

Keane swapped his formation in the second half going two up front by putting on Priksin and Connor Wickham at half time.

He said: “We were better second half.

“We were more solid, had more composure and we passed better, although that would not be hard.

“In the first half we were sluggish, the angle and pace of our passing was not right.

“That said, it is not against the law to give the opposition credit and you have to give Leicester credit.

“They are on the back of a promotion and a couple of victories and it gives you great confidence.”