Mick McCarthy keen to "spend a few quid" in January

Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy has admitted that he hopes to be able to "spend a few quid" in the January transfer market.

The Tractor Boys have endured a difficult season on the pitch so far, winning just four of their last 15 league games to sit 15th in the Championship.

McCarthy has had a limited budget to spend on transfers since his arrival at Portman Road four years ago, having been restricted to mostly loans, swap deals or free transfers, but hopes to have some cash to strengthen next month.

"Me saying it's a difficult window to do business is not me lining up an excuse. Whatever you think of me and my football, I'm probably the most straight-forward bloke that's ever sat here," McCarthy told reporters at a press conference, according to the Ipswich Star. "I'm giving you honest answers, I'm only ever honest in press conferences, I don't give you any nonsense at all. If we've been garbage, I say we've been garbage. Even sitting here now, I'm saying 60% of it has been bad recently.

"I never sit here and make excuses and I'm not going to make an excuse for the January transfer window - but it is an awful window. There are no emergency loans any more, so people are going to be keeping hold of their players. We've seen the money being thrown around – [Ross] McCormack for 12 million quid, Newcastle spending £10m on multiple players – and that filters down and pushes the prices up accordingly. The gap between the haves and have-nots is bonkers, but I've never complained. It's going to be a difficult window to manage, but if we can do something we'll do it.

"I give a list of players to [owner Marcus Evans, owner]; if we can get them, great, if we can't we'll try and get somebody else and if we can't do that then I'll keep trying to get the best out of what I've got. We have a list of frees, the same as every year, but I've put a few on that might cost a few quid this year. We'll see. The better we've been doing, the more attractive we've been to players and it's a bit tough for us at the minute."

McCarthy's men next welcome playoff-chasing Fulham to Portman Road on Boxing Day.