ROY Keane looks set to remain Ipswich Town manager for the start of the new season, but Tony Mowbray could be lined up as a possible successor.

A source has told the Evening Star that Mowbray had discussions with chairman and owner, Marcus Evans, over the weekend.

However, it is unlikely that ex-Town player and coach, Mowbray, will be returning to Portman Road in the immediate future.

Instead, the 46-year-old former centre-half could be seen by Town as a mid-term successor, if Keane again fails to launch a promotion bid during the first two or three months of the new campaign.

Only last week, Town chief executive Simon Clegg insisted that he and Keane were intent on bringing in four or five new faces for next season.

Despite raging speculation, and rumours that have been flying around, on-and-off, for several months, Keane has stayed in his job and there is no indication that the Irishman will be dislodged in the near future.

Keane gave himself two years to bring promotion to Town, following his appointment in April, 2009, but it is crucial that he starts his second season with a bang.

No repeat of last season’s dismal beginning, which didn’t yield a single win for the first 14 league games, would be tolerated by Evans. In fact, anything other than an impressive start will do.

Mowbray had five successful seasons at Ipswich, as a no-nonsense defender in the twilight of his playing career. He also had four games in charge as caretaker manager in 2002, between the reigns of George Burley and Joe Royle.

He has since enjoyed good times as manager of Hibernian and West Brom, although his nine months at the helm at another of his old clubs, Celtic, ended after just nine months in March.

Last week, Clegg implied that he and Keane would continue to work together to assemble a strong squad for next term.

He said: “The manager and myself still have the same four or five players in mind that we had at the end of last season. They have not gone off the radar.”