Welcome back to Portman Road for tonight's Championship game against leaders West Ham, who look as though they are going to live up their pre-season tag of promotion favourites by returning to the Premier League.

They are probably the biggest draw in the division and its shows the position they are in when they can bring players like Kevin Nolan to the club and make a six or seven million pound bid for striker as they are said to have done recently.

I've known Sam Allardyce [ West Ham manager] for a long time and he had some kind words to say about us when we beat them at their place earlier in the season.

We went to Upton Park full of confidence on the night and deservedly won - albeit with a late goal. We dominated possession, especially in the first-half and the players had total belief in themselves.

That performance showed what we are capable of but unfortunately the belief the players had that night has been lost in too many games this season, and too quickly in games as well.

We know it will be a very difficult 90 minutes tonight but we are relishing the challenge and if we can show the same energy, desire and ability as we did against Blackpool in our last home game, we'll give ourselves a chance.

While I'm sure there will be a terrific atmosphere here, in many ways I'm staggered that we are actually playing this game tonight.
We are probably the only country in the world that has a full fixture list on transfer deadline day, with the deadline an hour or so after the final whistle.

I'm not a fan of the transfer window anyway but when you are trying to pull deals together and get involved in the whole time-consuming exercise that surrounds every transfer, you can almost forget that the most important issue is getting the three points.

Every deal now becomes a drawn out affair, with conversations going backwards and forwards between clubs and agents. It's really hard work, bringing players in and the hardest part of a manager's job.

We know we need to strengthen and we have been working long and hard at getting players in but it's made more difficult because you are working within a short timeframe and against a deadline. What we must avoid is getting players in for the sake of it. Mistakes have been made like that by clubs up and down the country in the past.

It's not just the defence we have been looking at, it's all over the pitch and while we have focused on adding some permanent signings to the Club, we have the opportunity to exploit the loan market when that opens in seven days.
One player that we can welcome to Portman Road is Ryan Stevenson, who has joined us from Hearts.

He will give us a different option in midfield and comes with a reputation for scoring goals. I know there were a few clubs interested in him but he's shown a great attitude and willingness to come here, which has really impressed me.

He has proved he has an eye for a goal down the years and from speaking to him, you can see how much he's up for the challenge here.
He's not played for a while because of his dispute with Hearts and has been training on his own so it's going to take him a little while to get up to speed. In the training he has done with us you can tell he's a fit lad but there is nothing like playing games to get that match sharpness.

Ronan Murray has signed a new contract that will keep him at the Club next season and he's now back out on loan at Swindon, which will benefit him enormously. Luke Hyam is close to agreeing a new contract while we are progressing with Josh Carson as well.

Finally, I'd like to welcome Sam, his staff and the West Ham team to Portman Road for what I'm sure will be a terrific game.