A ‘RIDICULOUS’ eight-game spell in March – quickly followed by two matches in three days over the Easter weekend – could see Paul Jewell make changes to his Ipswich Town side.

The Blues boss often pledged to freshen his side up during the gruelling schedule last month – yet resisted keeping changes to just a minimum.

But mindful of another punishing spell which sees his ever-improving team take on Derby County at Pride Park on Saturday and then host Leicester City 48 hours later, Jewell’s thoughts are once again turning towards change.

He explained: “One or two have played a lot of football of late but so has the rest of the division. I keep on saying after every game I am going to need to change the squad around but then I don’t.

“I like people who are in the team to want to be in it, but we might have to seriously look on Saturday and then Monday at using the whole squad.”

Jewell, who has no injury worries ahead of the two matches, welcomed getting his players back on the training ground for a few uninterrupted days.

He added: “At this stage of the season, it is almost ticking over. We gave them a rest on Monday and the rest of the week they have been in – and they have looked sharp. It is nice to have a bit of a breather away from games and a free week to get some functional work into them.”

But while the eight games in March has taken a lot out of his side, Jewell praised his players’ efforts which saw Town taste just one defeat all month.

“We have had a really difficult month as far as games are concerned – bordering on the ridiculous really,” Jewelll reflected. “Playing Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday means you are not always going to get the quality performances.

“But I think our players deserve credit. They have put in an awful lot of work and we have had some good results. We now have another test in travelling tomorrow, playing Saturday, training Sunday and then playing Monday.”