'I NEED more time' is the plea today to Blues fans by manager Roy Keane as he battles to build a winning team at Portman Road..

Elvin King

'I NEED more time' is the plea today to Blues fans by manager Roy Keane as he battles to build a winning team at Portman Road.

A failure to beat Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road this evening (kick-off 8pm) could well see Town drop down to the bottom three in the Championship.

Keane admits that his squad is still not up to the strength he would like despite being in the Town hot seat now for over nine months.

“We're close but not close enough,” said Keane.

“Sometimes it takes two or three transfer windows to get the balance right with regard to the shape and style of your squad.

“You also have to be patient with players going out.

“I'm fairly pleased, but there are areas that need improving.

“We're trying hard but there is nothing happening at the moment.”

When asked about his hopes for next season, Keane would not be drawn replying: “We have tests this season first.

“But things are not looking too bad long term.

“Generally speaking we have to be careful in the summer who we can get in as we have four loan players here right now.”

A failure to see teams off resulting in 15 drawn league matches is holding back a Town side that have lost just two of their last 17 league games.

And Keane admits it's giving him nightmares.

“Only one away league victory is disappointing as some of our performances have deserved better than that.

“I won't bore people again with the details of games that we've thrown away, but they keep coming back to haunt me around 3am in the morning.

“I was quite relaxed by a positive team performance in the 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough on Saturday, but against quality teams you need a second goal. If not - as we have found to our cost - you're in trouble.”

And looking ahead to a tough quartet of games, Keane added: “We're going to find out a lot - about myself, players, staff and our supporters, who have been great.

“We'll give it our best and see where it takes us.

“Our last two away matches have been very disappointing and perhaps we need to freshen things up a bit.”