Defender Jordan Spence has insisted he and his team-mates will never stop giving their all for manager Mick McCarthy.

The Blues boss has been coming under increasing pressure at a time when he is out of contract at the end of the season with no decision made regarding his future at the club.

But Spence, signed by McCarthy in January 2017 having been out of football for six months, insisted he and his team-mates will continue to block out the noise and give their all for a man who retains the squad’s full support.

“If you look at my personal situation last year he showed a lot of belief in me when a lot of other individuals in football didn’t, so hopefully I have repaid him back somewhat,” Spence said.

MORE: Stuart Watson’s Sunday Verdict: Politics of fear doesn’t wash when it feels like there’s little to lose

“You will never, ever, ever hear anything other (than respect) out of me.

“We don’t need, in my small experience of professional football, to have to stick up for our manager because he’s fantastic at what he does and he’s really good to us.

“I think that if anyone can throw that (not giving their all for their manager) at a squad then it’s a real bad indictment and says something about you as an individual as much as anything.”

MORE: ‘If there’s one thing we would expect ourselves to do it is deal with the big man’

Reflecting on an eight-day period which saw the Blues draw 0-0 with Sheffield United, lose 3-0 at home to Hull in a game where fan frustration came to the fore and then go down 1-0 at Bristol City, Spence insisted the bond within the squad is as strong as ever.

“We’re a very together group and what we’ve managed to do is that when things have been really good we’ve not go too high and then the same the other way,” he said.

“That’s the way you have to be in football because there are so many highs and lows, you just have to be on an even keel.

MORE: Stu says: Five observations following Ipswich Town’s 1-0 defeat at Bristol City

“We’ve stuck together, we continue to stick together and give it our all and support each other, we give it our all and if you can look in the mirror and tell yourself that at the end of the day then you have done your job.

“We’ve showed we are a top half team this season and we want to make sure we at least cement that, so that will be one of the objectives.

“Everyone has personal objectives, too – I want to play really well between now and the end of the season and so do all the other boys.

“You’re always playing for your future in this game.”