‘We haven’t played great’, admits Jewell
IPSWICH Town manager Paul Jewell admitted his side ‘haven’t played great’ in pre-season before reiterating his desire to add more fresh faces.
The Blues may still be unbeaten this summer but they have been held in their last three games against lower league clubs.
When last night’s game against League One side Colchester United was abandoned after 78 minutes following a head injury to Andy Bond, the score was still goalless.
Previous to that Town drew 2-2 against Blue Square Premier side Cambridge United and 1-1 against League Two outfit Southend.
Jewell yesterday took his number of summer signings to seven with David Stockdale (Fulham, loan) and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (Arsenal, undisclosed) joining Aaron Cresswell, Ivar Ingimarsson, Lee Bowyer, Michael Chopra and Nathan Ellington.
Six of them all started last night’s game at The Weston Homes Community Stadium, with only Ellington missing out with a minor shoulder niggle.
“The last couple of games have been stuttering performances, but that is always likely to happen when you have got so many new players coming in,” said Jewell, whose side comfortably won their opening two pre-season games in Holland against Dutch second tier sides.
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“We haven’t played great but these games are all about fitness.
“I’ve been at clubs where we’ve had terrific pre-seasons and then bad campaigns and vice-versa.
“We know we need to improve and I’m still looking for a couple more players,” said Jewell, who will now make finding another centre-back his top priority.
“Negotiations for players are ongoing and thankfully we’ve managed to keep quite a few things quiet.”
Meanwhile, Jewell confirmed that Fulham have inserted a 24-hour recall clause into Stockdale’s season-long loan deal.
