Ipswich chief executive Mark Ashton says the club’s spending spree is not over as they prepare for life in the Premier League.

The Tractor Boys are chasing Rovers talisman Sam Szmodics and had a bid rejected for the Irish international, who enjoyed the best season of his career to date last term, finding the net 33 times in all competitions.

The Lancashire Telegraph reported on Thursday that the clubs remain in talks over Szmodics’ future but no agreement had been struck.

Ipswich have already brought in Liam Delap, Jacob Greaves, Aro Muric, Omari Hutchinson and Ben Johnston as they prepare for their opener against Liverpool next month.

"It's a tough window," Ashton told TownTV. "We're swimming in a bigger pond than we've ever swum in before.

“It's the same challenges - just with different, much bigger numbers. When you’re dealing with much bigger numbers, your room for error is far less.

"I think what you've seen with myself and Kieran (McKenna) is that we've stuck to the plan. Kieran's been very clear and very diligent in the work that he's being doing. 

“Some very talented people have come into the building, who will grow with us. Five in and that’s not the end of it, fans will understand we are proactive in transfer windows. 

“We’ve done decent business in previous windows in other leagues and I think we’ll continue and you’ll see more players over the next few weeks arrive ahead of the season."

Ipswich finished second in the Championship last term under McKenna, achieving the rare feat of back-to-back promotions.

On how he's found operating in the Premier League market, Ashton added: "It's as tough as I expected, negotiations are probably tougher than ever because you've got to get value.

"It's very easy to overpay and if you overpay on the way in with a deal, the deal's never right and you're struggling from day one.

"The due diligence we do on the type of player, the personality, the finances, the technical, the tactical piece from Kieran all has to come together.

"Myself and Kieran lead on that, while Luke Werhun has been absolutely invaluable in the work he's done behind the scenes. He's certainly got more grey hairs this summer!

"It's relentless but that's what we do. We don't sing and dance, we don't talk into the media what we're doing.

“I think the fans have been great, they’ve been really controlled in the way they've talked about who we’re looking to bring in which has helped us again. We'll keep going, there's more to do."