IPSWICH Town's new supremo Derek Bow-den today asked Blues fans to be patient over new blood arriving at Portman Road.

Elvin King

IPSWICH Town's new supremo Derek Bow-den today asked Blues fans to be patient over new blood arriving at Portman Road.

Bowden has taken over the full day-to-day running of the Coca-Cola Championship club following chairman David Sheepshanks' move down to an non-executive role.

The chief executive, who has been with the club for five years working alongside Sheepshanks, was today settling into his new role after his return from holiday.

A blackout has been placed on further talk on last week's changes at the top end of the club with Bowden only saying: “I am reporting to owner Marcus Evans and working with manager Jim Magilton.”

Referring to the prospect of bringing in new players to bolster Magilton's squad, Bowden added: “It's a quiet time and early days when it comes to making close season signings.

“It is a strange time of the year with so many football people away on holiday.

“Our ambition remains the same - to gain promotion to the Premier League, and this is what we will all be working towards in the months ahead.”

While there may be no new players arriving in the near future, Bowden confirmed that he expects a new international head of recruitment to be in place by the end of next week.

“Interviews have taken place and are taking place with a number of candidates,” he said.

“Getting in someone with a vast knowledge of the foreign game will allow us to spread the net further than we can at the moment.”

The successful candidate will work alongside chief scout Steve McCall and his assistant Charlie Woods with Bowden adding: “The brief will be mainly European - including the UK - but will cover the world.

“It will enable us to cast our net wider, and we are quite close to an announcement.”