Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna says Blues will keep pursing January targets following Julio Enciso becoming third confirmed signing

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has given hope of further additions coming to Portman Road before the February 3 deadline, saying the club will remain active until the end of the January transfer window in a bid to improve his squad.

Brighton & Hove Albion’s versatile forward Julio Enciso was confirmed as the Blues’ third arrival of the winter window earlier today, filling the last of two domestic loan spots.

He adds to £20 million signing Jaden Philogene, the England Under-21 international winger arriving from Aston Villa, as well as right-sided defender Ben Godfrey, on loan from Serie A side Atalanta.

But speaking at this afternoon’s pre-match press conference with Liverpool, with the Suffolk side travelling to face the league leaders on Saturday (3pm), he far from ruled out more arrivals.

“We’ll have to wait and see. We’ll go to the last day and try and improve the squad, if in any way possible,” he said.

“But we have enough depth in the squad, so it’s only if we can add players who we think can have a really big impact on the starting 11 or a really big impact on the matchday squad and improve us in the remaining games, then we’ll do it.

“If that’s not possible, then we have good depth and everyone’s on board, everyone’s hungry and everyone’s keen to do well.”

On whether he would be satisfied with the club’s business in January if the window were to close now, he said: “Yes, I think when you do your best you can only ever be satisfied.

“We’ve worked hard in the summer, we’ve worked hard again now and, of course, in between. A lot of hard work from the club behind the scenes to improve the squad as much as we can.

“That’s really, really hard to do from where we’re coming from. It’s a real challenge and balancing act in so many different things, but I think the club’s certainly tried to do that.

“Where we are now is we have a squad with good depth and the players, again, a good mixture of qualities throughout the squad and a group of players desperate to do well, so that’s a pretty good place to be.

”If we can make any improvements that we think can push us to another level, we’ll do so and if not, then we’ll crack on with what we have here.”

The club ended up leaving the number nine shirt unfilled on their squad registration list in the summer with a move for Chelsea’s Albanian international Armando Broja reportedly breaking down following an issue flagged on his medical before the 22-year-old eventually signed on loan for Everton.

Quizzed on how hard it will be to get another striker of the level he needs in the building in this window to fulfil his wish for three competing number nines, with Ali Al-Hamaid seemingly set for a move to the Championship, McKenna said: “There would be very few, to be honest, very, very, very few. I think that’s for all signings in January.

“If you look at two seasons ago when we brought in Nathan Broadhead, George Hirst, Harry Clarke, Massimo (Luongo), players who could come into the team and within a few weeks are first 11 players playing every week and are dominating at the level.

“To do that in January at Ipswich Town (in the Premier League) is impossible, it’s not going to happen. For players to come in and settle in and have that much impact is not possible, and that’s as you go up through the leagues.

“Probably last year we made some signings and the impact was positive but a little bit different in terms of the games and the minutes that they played, and we’ll try and make the best of this year.

“In all the positions, I think it’s really competitive, we’re operating now at the very, very top echelons of the game, so players that can come in and improve your team or even improve your squad in season without a settling in period, aren’t that easy to find and even those who you think will do it, there’s no guarantee.

“Everyone’s competing in that same market and we’ll do so until the very end of the window to improve where we can. But at the same time, I know January signings are always a big story and supporters want to see them and the players want to see players come in and the staff want to see the additions that can help us.

“But at the end of the day, it’s us who are in the building, it’s the staff, it’s the people, it’s the players in the building who have the main responsibility to keep pushing us forward, and if players can come in and help us along the way and give us an extra little push, then that’s fantastic. But at this level, it’s those that are already in the building whose main responsibility is to keep pushing this team forward.”