Town midfielder Luke Hyam will have been relieved to hear that manager Mick McCarthy had confirmed his inclusion in the starting line-up for Saturday’s trip to face Birmingham City after admitting he feared for his first team place.

Hyam, 21, spoke to TWTD before McCarthy’s revelation and admitted he was concerned that he might be relegated to the bench at St Andrew’s.

He said: “I think everyone is worried about their place. We’ve lost three of our four league games so far and that isn’t good enough. We all need to be performing better and when that happens we will start to get results. Whoever comes in, whoever plays, will give 110 per cent.

“I feel I can do a lot better. To be honest I’m not happy with my own performances. I’m pretty sure there are other players who are not happy either but if we all improve by five or ten per cent we’ll soon start winning games.

“I don’t know why I’ve not been playing better — I think it’s just one of those things. Once I get a bit of confidence I’m sure things will improve. This game is all about confidence and once you get it going, which comes from winning games, you feel you can play a lot better.”

Hyam was given his senior debut by ex-boss Roy Keane and then struggled to hold down a regular first team place under Keane’s successor, Paul Jewell.

But since Mick McCarthy inherited the reins in November last year the Ipswich-born midfielder has not only established himself in the side but also been rewarded with a new three-year contract.

He added: “Mick instils confidence in the players, which makes a massive difference. I just want to repay him for showing so much faith in me.

“But we all deserve a kick up the backside from time to time and Mick knows when to do that as well as talking to you about your game. He is just a top manager.

“I was delighted to get a new deal. I’m really enjoying my football here and I want to stay for as long as possible. It just shows how things can change in a short space of time. It’s almost surreal.”

Photo: Action Images

BlueMachines added 06:41 - Aug 30 Reward MM with a fantastic performance and prove him right!!
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warwickblue added 07:42 - Aug 30 Yes Luke. Although 3 points from 12 is not the sort of start we anticipated, after all the pre-season expectation, I think it is only about the team finding that elusive extra 5% of something or other, to get the season properly started. Individual errors aside, you cannot say that the team has been outplayed by anyone we have faced so far and, in some ways, we are unlucky to have lost the points when you could argue that a draw would have been a fair outcome in at least two of the games. I know that MM says that there is no point saying "We got beaten but we played well" but this is actually the case so far. I still have loads of confidence for the season ahead.

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Gilesy added 08:21 - Aug 30 Is there not some sort of Football School of Cliches where players and managers can be taught that you can't give 110%?
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jas0999 added 09:17 - Aug 30 I wonder who will be dropped then? MM said there will 'probably' be changes. Loach and Murphy would be my guess? I like Hyam - but is he and Skuse too similar in the central role? Time will tell.
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LankHenners added 09:36 - Aug 30 I'm really not sure that Hyam and Skuse work as a pair. In my opinion, either Hyam needs to improve the attacking side of his game or we need somebody else who will give us that attacking instinct from midfield (i.e. Wordsworth or Tunnicliffe).
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Jimmy86 added 09:50 - Aug 30 People wanting hyam to improve the attacking side of his game are asking him to do something he is not comfortable with or capable of doing. He is a defensive minded holding midfielder and is too similar to skuse. Skuse in my opinion is a better version of hyam and needs a creative attacking midfielder alongside him. Skuse is a better passer of the ball than hyam and in my opinion hyam is fairly limited. People seem to be somewhat blinkered when it comes to hyam coz he is a local boy and "one of our own" if he wasnt people would have lost patience

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PunchNoHopers added 09:59 - Aug 30 It is not one player IMO, and I fear it was lack of pre-season game time for many players as hardly anyone got more than 45-60 minutes and also lack of challenging opposition to test and push us when we needed it!
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StowTractorBoy added 10:31 - Aug 30 I had predicted Gerken for Loach Nouble for Murphy (although I would like to see Taylor) and Tunnicliffe for Hyam. Hope this is a kick up the backside for Hyam as he has been disappointing this season. Can't fault his effort but he and Skuse have not gelled yet. Worried about our right side as Hewitt still learning and gets caught out of position and Edwards has yet to impress this season. Here is hoping for a result tomorrow.

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IvorFeeling added 11:19 - Aug 30 With Hyam confirmed and MM stating that Skuse can play at Prem level the changes will be made on one or both sides of Midfield. I would personally stick with Loach as it would do more damage if he was dropped. Upfront, Taylor is too much of a fitness risk to start so then it's a straight fight between Nouble and Murphy. You should only be changing one or two personel so I think MM will pick Anderson and Nouble with Carlos and Murphy dropping to the bench.

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muccletonjoe added 12:01 - Aug 30 With hyam you get the effort and the heart even if he is not playing well , I would play 3 in midfield and play anderson and wordsworth up with mcgoldrick
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CambridgeBlue added 12:55 - Aug 30 Nouble looked like a young Emile Heskey when he came on on Saturday, and I don't mean that as a compliment.
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Blaine96 added 14:36 - Aug 30 I think Hyam is a brilliant player but he knows Skuse has the defensive duties covered and holds the middle so he needs to realise that that's his time to push forward and look to create. Im sure Mick and Terry are working with him to get into more of an attacking role.
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h32 added 19:09 - Aug 30 ........ too much - for too little. I wonder what I refer to - Could it be Player's Wages ?? You ALL need to be performing better - and FAST.
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TimmyH added 20:16 - Aug 30 Alarm bells ringing...and we're not even out of August.
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Garv added 22:15 - Aug 30 Funny, Hyam admits that our performances aren't good yet Mick seems perfectly happy.
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Garv added 22:58 - Aug 30 Good enough* I should say.
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Blaine96 added 23:39 - Aug 30 I think our performances have been good but we just need to kill teams off when we have the chance and not be nice to them. Also we need that attacking minded player in the middle. If we can stay focused and finish teams off we will be fine.
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TimmyH added 10:58 - Aug 31 We've played well in patches, I'd like to see us control a majority of a game (which we rarely do), played ok at Reading at times, 25 minutes against Leeds and defended fairly well at QPR but nothing astounding so far!
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