91Èȱ¬

Ipswich boss Paul Jewell says he will continue to try to persuade skipper David Norris to stay at the club.

Jewell has received less than positive signals from the 30-year-old midfielder's agent.

"His agent put me off, saying he's been offered fantastic deals at other clubs," he told 91Èȱ¬ Radio Suffolk.

"I spoke to Chuck [Norris] yesterday and he wants to stay, so I'll speak to his agent again to see if there's something we can do."

Jewell continued: "But if he's got an offer that blows us out of the water, he's going to take that because he's 30 and it's a big time for his family."

Norris, whose current deal expires in June, has had since November and is just one of a string of first-team players who will be free to walk away from Ipswich in the summer.

Defenders Gareth McAuley and Damien Delaney have both been offered new deals.

But Jewell admits the club should never have let the issue of renewing contracts drag on so late into the season.

"Contract talks have been ongoing, and they probably should have been dealt with a while ago," he said.

"But hopefully we can learn from our mistakes."

Jewell added that plans for team-building in the summer had been going well, with the former Derby boss eager to do business early in the summer.

"We're speaking to people and we're trying to get things in place," he said.

"We don't want to be coming back in pre-season and trying, we want to do business before pre-season - that would be ideal."