Transfer deadline day turned out to be a traditional damp squib for Ipswich Town – and for once, no news would be good news.

Transfer deadline day turned out to be a traditional damp squib for Ipswich Town – and for once, no news was good news.

The day started with much trepidation and anticipation, Leicester City having had two offers – believed to be £6.5m and £7m – for star striker David McGoldrick rejected over the weekend, while Chris Wood (Leicester) and Glenn Murray (Crystal Palace) emerged as potential McGoldrick replacements.

In the end all the talk came to nothing. The Foxes balked at Town’s asking price of £8m for McGoldrick, while Palace’s leftfield interest in left-back Tyrone Mings quickly cooled after a sizeable £2.5m fee was reportedly put on his head.

Talk about owner Marcus Evans making a statement of intent. That’s certainly not the actions of a man who has lost interest.

McGoldrick may be left temporarily disappointed at not getting the chance to move to the Premier League, but the alternative was losing the club’s only player with real star quality.

Now supporters can look ahead with renewed optimism. Not only did the likes of Teddy Bishop, Kevin Bru, Alex Henshall, Mings and Jonathan Parr all step up and look good in last weekend’s confidence-boosting 1-1 draw at Derby, but McCarthy still has opportunities to bring in reinforcements.

The ‘emergency’ loan window opens next week and the club has a list of young Premier League targets. Free agents can still be added too, with Jack Collison and Darren Ambrose both playing for the Under-21s at Portman Road last night.

One or two new additions to a thin-looking squad could yet make all the difference between another season of mid-table mediocrity and a genuine play-off push.