Ipswich Town managing director Ian Milne has called for the club's fans to "be realistic" with their expectations in the transfer market.

The Tractor Boys had been criticised in some quarters for their failure to make a marquee signing in the January window following the exit of star striker Daryl Murphy last summer.

Mick McCarthy's side have struggled in the Championship this season and are winless in their last four league games, but Milne thinks that any criticism of owner Marcus Evans for not spending big is unwarranted.

"He is putting that £6m or £7m in a year," Milne told BBC Radio Suffolk. "You've seen the loss he's made over the 10-year period. Like everybody, he's got a budget. We all have so much cash in our back pocket for spending money – that's the same for any billionaire. We have a budget of what we are prepared to spend.

"He's done some big shopping which has increased the salary bill and we've got to understand that's the budget. That doesn't mean we don't have promotion hopes and all the rest of it. The ticket revenue is £6.5m. Our player salary bill now is £12m. Somebody has to foot the bill between the two and that's before you start spending on new players.

"Of course we want to push on. I think most people think, on paper, that should be a good squad and should be up in the top six or close to it. If we have to rebuild then so be it. Clearly there is not the money to spend £10m, £15m on a striker that may or may not work.

"Fans are expecting Marcus to spend two or three times more than he currently is. We have to be realistic. I've been told there are some owners who won't be investing the amount they have been after a one-year go at it. Marcus had a three-year go at it, longer than that. There may be an opportunity for him to go for it again. They really did try to get some players in, I'm not just saying that, but they were out-bid or just weren't accepted."

Ipswich are currently 16th in the Championship table.