Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna says the January transfer window is going to be an important one.

The Blues super-charged their League One promotion push with the additions of Harry Clarke, Massimo Luongo, Nathan Broadhead and George Hirst early in 2023.

And, following a relatively low key summer transfer window, chief executive Mark Ashton says the club has 'financial firepower' to strengthen from a position of strength yet again as the Suffolk club find themselves second in the Championship table.

“We’ll try and add quality and character to the group that will help us - that’s the same in every window," said McKenna, whose side now face crunch festive fixtures against third-place Leeds (a) and table-toppers Leicester (h).

“This will be an important one and we’ll try and add to the group as best we can within the resources and the possibilities that we have.”

With all four of last January's signings arriving before the 19th day of the month, McKenna was asked if yet more early business was the plan.

“Always," he replied. "That was beneficial last year. Getting players in as early as possible, especially with how we train and how we work, it’s not always a next-day transition. We feel players do benefit from a little bit more time with us.

“We’ll try and do things as early as we possibly can, but that’s not always in your control. If you’re trying to sign somebody else’s players in January, you don’t always control the timelines. We’ll do that the best we can.”

MORE: Fulham striker Jay Stansfield a potential January target for Town

 

Asked if he was looking at permanent or loan additions, the Blues boss said: “I think you have to look at both in the Championship.

 

“We didn’t do many loans in League One because we felt that in that market it was possible for us to add players that we could develop here and that would have a big impact for us, go to the next level and we could add a lot of value to, and we feel like we’ve done that.

“Of course, I think every team would rather have 22 of their own players in the building, who are permanently attached to the club and their own assets to keep developing.

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“But it’s not always the case and for a team like us, in our position in the Championship, you can acquire players on loan whose value you probably wouldn’t be able to meet as a permanent signing.

“We have to stay open to both possibilities and, of course, try and make signings that will help us for the second half of the season, while also keeping to our medium and long-term plan of how we develop the squad and how we develop the team over the years ahead.

"We’ll have discussions around that balance and try and find the right balance with both in this window."

MORE: Budget, squad limit, who could go and what's needed - Stuart Watson looks ahead to the January transfer window