NINE-GOAL loan midfielder Keith Andrews says he has been given no impression that Ipswich Town want to keep him beyond the New Year.

The Republic of Ireland international has just three games left – Leicester (a), Reading (a) and Nottingham Forest (h) – before his half-season loan switch from Blackburn Rovers expires.

Blues boss Paul Jewell insisted last week that the club will do everything they can to sign the 31-year-old on a permanent basis, but Andrews – Town’s influential stand-in skipper of late – says those words have not been backed up with actions.

“I haven’t been given an impression by the club that they want to do anything,” revealed Andrews, whose agent met with owner Marcus Evans on Monday.

“A good few weeks ago I told my agent to contact the club out of courtesy because he was speaking to other clubs on my behalf, which he’s fully in his right to do. I just said – because I was here and enjoying it – to get in touch with Ipswich too.

“From our point of view they haven’t really given us the impression that they want to do anything though. What can I say? That’s where we are at the minute.”

Asked whether he’d spoken to manager Paul Jewell about his future, Andrews added: “No, I’ve not spoken to Paul about it at all.

“Maybe they are planning to do something in the next few weeks, but nobody has spoken about it to me on a personal note at all. There have been very few discussions between me, my agent and the senior people at the club.”

A host of Premier League clubs – including Norwich, Swansea, Wigan, Bolton and Aston Villa – have all been linked with Andrews in recent weeks.

Andrews said: “There’s certainly interest from other clubs. It’s a little bit hazy at the moment because Blackburn are in a little bit of disarray at the moment.

“As it stands at the moment though I’ll be going back to them after the Forest game on the 2nd (January) and then we’ll just have to see how the month pans out.”

– For full story, see tomorrow’s EADT and Evening Star.