Blues boss Paul Jewell says striker Michael Chopra benefited from being left out of the starting line-up for most of January’s fixtures. Since his return in the 5-1 home hammering of West Ham, the 28-year-old has netted seven goals in 10 games taking his total to 14 for the season.

Jewell said: “He’s had his issues this season and it’s been a really tough season for Michael off the pitch, as well as on the pitch at times.

“He wasn’t in the team for a while, we left him out and I know a lot of people raised eyebrows at it, but I think it was probably the right thing to do because he wasn’t sharp, he wasn’t himself.

“A couple of games on the bench can give you a refreshed outlook and I think, certainly since he’s come back in [that’s been the case].

“In fairness to him he had that bad spell when the team had a bad spell, so maybe we were all looking for Chops to be our saviour all the time to get us out of jail.

“I think other people have now taken responsibility and have stepped up to the plate — Luke Hyam, Andy Drury, recently Grant Leadbitter, Daryl Murphy, Lee Martin, JET, Tommy Smith. All of a sudden instead of talking just about Chops, there are a lot of players who have contributed an awful lot.”

The Blues boss is delighted with the recent upturn but wants no slacking in the remaining weeks of the campaign: “Only a month ago we were in the mix of clubs who were going to be fighting relegation. We’ve shown character and resilience to drag ourselves out of that, and quality at times.

“Now we’ve got nine games left and we owe it to ourselves [to keep going] — the lads are excited and looking forward to games and I don’t want there to be an end of season feel about it.

“That’s the last thing anybody wants. The sun’s out, but we don’t want anyone to get into an easy-oasy mode, we want to get out there and see if we can win nine games. That’s the aim.

“The aim of every team in any division is to win every match. We know it’s highly unlikely that that will happen but we’ve got to start tomorrow when we’ve got a very difficult game.”

The Town boss says the squad’s recent form persuaded him not to make any further additions before Thursday’s deadline: “I think the players have done really well over the last couple of months.

“If we were down and struggling we would have made signings, no doubt about that, but luckily we’ve picked up and we’re not going to get embroiled in a relegation fight.

“The lads who are in the team and the squad at the moment have done exceptionally well and at the moment — although we’re always looking to improve for next season — I don’t see the need to bring a couple of players in for the short-term. I’m really more interested in the long-term future of the club.”

Photo: Action Images

Mick_Mills_Tache added 09:59 - Mar 24 Some good comments there from Jewell and a general positive feel about the team now! With all the recent Chops interviews and articles, i wouldn't bet against him getting a couple today! Can genuinely see us winning today, not often you say that against Watford. Let's break this 14 game jinx, Town! COYB!
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