You don’t know how much we are hurting.

That is the message from Town chief executive Simon Clegg who has revealed the true extent of hurt felt by the men in power at Portman Road after the dismal start to the season.

Clegg, who yesterday confirmed a vote of confidence in manager Paul Jewell ahead of Saturday’s trip to Barnsley, insisted owner Marcus Evans would stop at nothing to achieve the success he – and fans – crave.

Clegg said: “We all feel it, it hurts deeply.

“I don’t think the fans fully understand how deeply it actually hurts us. We are here from sunrise to sunset – there is nothing else in our lives.

“We are totally dedicated to this football club. And when you lose, and you lose in the way like we have this season, it hurts deeply. It hurts Marcus, it hurts Paul and it hurts myself – and it hurts the fans as well.”

Clegg gave an interview to the club’s Ipswich Player following growing concerns over Jewell’s job.

But the chief executive, and Evans himself, know they have to play some part in the failings, both with Jewell and previous managers.

Clegg admitted: “He (Evans) has enjoyed considerable success in his career, he doesn’t walk away from things easily.

“He doesn’t enjoy failure and he will continue to do all he can to ensure we do achieve success.

“We are all incredibly disappointed, but that just means we have to work incredibly harder to turn things around.

“We need to create our own history rather than just look back on 1978 and 1981.

“In 10 years time, if we are still only talking about those years, the current generation would have failed.”