Struggling Ipswich back Jewell to continue

Ipswich manager Paul Jewell after the 4-0 humbling against Burnley (PA)

Under-fire Ipswich Town manager Paul Jewell has received a vote of confidence. Jewell's side have now lost six games in a row after last night's 4-0 drubbing at Burnley and are only being kept out of the Championship relegation zone on goal difference.

However, chief executive Simon Clegg insists he and owner Marcus Evans believe they have the right man at the helm. Clegg said: "Marcus has still got huge confidence in the manager and that he can turn this around.

"I've still got a lot of confidence in Paul Jewell. I think he's a top manager. It's not a comfortable time at the moment. And all I can do is assure all our loyal fans that every effort is being made to turn this around quickly."

Elsewehere in the Football League, Swindon Town have failed in their bid to sign striker Paul Benson from Charlton. The Robins had agreed a deal to bring the 32-year-old to the County Ground, only for the relevant paperwork to fail to reach the Football League ahead of the 5pm deadline last Thursday.

The club had hoped the move would still go through after talks with the League, but they will now have to wait until the January transfer window to get their man.

Chairman Jeremy Wray said: "We held lengthy discussions with the Football League trying to persuade them to afford us a limited degree of leeway, but rules are rules and, in the final analysis, we sadly fell outside of them."

Leyton Orient striker Kevin Lisbie has signed a new contract. Lisbie, who moved to Brisbane Road on a short-term deal after leaving Ipswich in the summer, is now committed to the club until the until the end of next season.

"When I signed here in September it was my aim to get a longer-term contract, so I'm more than happy that I've signed for another 18 months," Lisbie told www.leytonorient.com.

Southend have suspended winger Jemal Johnson for 14 days. The League Two club have launched a probe into Johnson's conduct after the 26-year-old American was arrested outside a nightclub in Ilford last month. He was later released on bail.

A statement from the club read: "The player will not be considered for selection or take part in training while the review is under way."

In Scotland, Rangers defender Steven Whittaker is optimistic he will be fit for the weekend despite coming off with an Achilles knock during Tuesday night's friendly defeat by Hamburg. The full-back was taken off early in the second half of his side's 2-1 defeat in Germany, but is confident of playing against Dunfermline at Ibrox in the Scottish Premier League on Saturday.

Whittaker said: "I hope it's not problematic. Just as I was breaking through the boy challenged me from behind and I tried to ride the tackle a bit. He caught me on the Achilles though and it just tightened up in the next few minutes, so I just decided to come off and not make it any worse. The physios are pretty optimistic. With a couple of days' rest hopefully I'll be able to play."