Boss Mick McCarthy believes recent signing Kevin Bru will bring a bit of subtlety to the Town midfield but warns that the 25-year-old Mauritian international will, like Hungarian striker Balint Bajner, take time to adjust to the rigours of the Championship.

“I think he can add a bit of subtlety, he can find a pass,” McCarthy said of the Parisian-born midfielder, who made his debut as a sub late on in last week’s 2-1 victory over Fulham before starting the Capital One Cup tie at Crawley on Tuesday. “And I would hope he’d get a goal because of his technical ability.

"He’ll find it, like Balint’s finding it, totally alien to him. This isn’t like playing in Bulgaria or in France or even if Germany, wherever they’ve been playing.

“It’s completely different but I think they’re both doing OK and it’s a long old season. They’ll both give us something this year, I think.”

The Town boss feels Bru could operate very effectively if the Blues switched to a central midfield trio: “Playing in a three, he keeps hold of the ball, Kevin Bru, he’s a good passer, very technical, very gifted, he’ll find a pass.

“I just asked him whether he found the game the other night quick. He paused before saying no. I think he was lying!”

As for Bajner, who started the Fulham game before being withdrawn shattered just before half-time and came off the bench at Crawley, McCarthy says he has to learn the differences between playing in Germany, where he has been a regular with Borussia Dortmund’s B team for the last two seasons, and Championship football.

“In Germany he wins every header in the air and in Germany if he doesn’t go down when he gets touched from behind and get a foul he’s in trouble.

“I said that if he does that here he’s in bigger trouble, so stand up and don’t go looking for them!

“There’s a bit of that going on, but we saw him in pre-season contributing. He can play and he’ll be an asset for us. They both will.”

Photo: Action Images

commuterblue added 06:27 - Aug 15 thought Bajner did well with flick ons on Saturday. still in happy shock about the way Murphy scored his first. that sort of thing normally happens against us. bring on Reading! COYB (what carling cup match?!)
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tractorkent added 07:03 - Aug 15 A gifted central midfield player,this is what we have ben crying out for. Is he a MM type player though ie work hard and a ball winner.Perhaps I am being unfair on MM but I long to see a playmaker in the middle.
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mow_the_lawn added 09:02 - Aug 15 I don't think MM saw the same game I did on Tuesday night night then. Bru looked way off the pace against lower level opposition. He just didn't look quick enough on the ball and kept getting dispossessed all to easily. Nothing to do with fitness, just awareness. He played one good through ball but the rest of the time he looked below the standard required. The likes of Bishop and McQueen highlighted that when they came on and looked comfortable on the ball, found teammates with passes and tries to play forward passes. Don't want to be too critical but definitely not impressed with him so far.

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NSL added 09:10 - Aug 15 We need a bit of subtlety in midfield, I mean we are crying out for someone to fill the gap when Skuse and Hyam keep rampaging forward all the time!
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MedwayTractor added 10:54 - Aug 15 If Bajner won all the headers in Krautland, they must have been giving them away free. Come bcak Priskin, all is forgiven!
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StowTractorBoy added 11:39 - Aug 15 Can't knock MM for his optimism but on Tuesdays showing both Bru and Bajner are way off the pace of Championship football. Bajner in particular did absolutely nothing but its early days so lets hope MM and TC can work some magic on the pair of them.
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TimmyH added 13:05 - Aug 15 Yet again EADT rated him as a 7 for his game against Crawley but those who saw the game on Tuesday reckoned he was way off the pace - but I have to say I very rarely agree with the ratings in that paper or come to fact what Stuart Watson bangs on about!
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jas0999 added 18:30 - Aug 15 Not convinced by either Bru or Bajner. It's still early days, but they don't look like championship quality players to me.
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Guthrum added 06:52 - Aug 16 I know the circumstances are somewhat different, but a certain Tommy Smith was seen as being way out of his depth at the start of his first-team career - now look how he's developed. Just because they aren't youths, doesn't mean to say that these new players (new to the Championship and even to the English game) are ready to go straight out of the box. We really ought to give them longer than a handful of minutes in their first League game (plus a bit of time in the Cup) before writing off their potential.

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