WHATEVER the current plight of Ipswich Town, there’s more than one worried man at Portman Road.

While manager Roy Keane makes a last-ditch attempt to rescue his Portman Road career, chief executive Simon Clegg and owner Marcus Evans are in constant contact over the plight of the Blues.

This is in meeting and daily television-conferencing, say my sources.

Salvation from the current Blues horror story – and survival in the Championship – are the owner’s number one, two and three business priorities at present.

Clegg has become a deeply troubled on-the-scene boss too – his face of thunder after both the Norwich and Swansea debacles told the picture.

While mystery magnate Evans wasn’t at the Norwich or West Brom matches (he was away on other business in the Far East) he knew he had to be at Portman Road on Saturday and flew back in to the UK and straight to Portman Road.

From the warmth of the Far East to the chills of Portman Road, nothing he saw warmed his spirit.

And, as the dusk fell on Portman Road, and as the buoyant Swansea team coach left on its journey west, my spies saw owner and chief executive leave the ground together for more pivotal talks.

As for Keano, who has pledged to fight on – a defeat against Preston would spell the end of his Portman Road career.

But don’t be surprised at anything in the current atmosphere surrounding football – when a fabulous soccer boss, Newcastle’s Chris Hughton, was fired despite his newly-promoted team were doing well in the Premier League.

Come to think of it, Evans and Clegg would do well to put Hughton’s name on their shopping list, should the worst come to the worst in coming days.