Town have confirmed that former West Ham midfielder Jack Collison has signed a short-term deal until late December.

The 25-year-old has recently spent time training with the Blues and also at Birmingham City and was offered the terms a fortnight ago.

“I offered him a deal, I think he’s going to sign it and it’ll take him until just before the next window," manager Mick McCarthy said.

“You don’t have to have too many missing through tiny little things for one game and having another extra body of his quality will be nice to have around.”

The Blues boss says the Wales international won't be involved in the squad for Saturday's game against Rotherham: “No, next week.”

Watford-born Collison played youth football with Peterborough and Cambridge before joining West Ham’s set-up.

He made his senior debut in January 2008 and went on to make 87 starts and 34 sub appearances, scoring 14 goals while at Upton Park. The 6ft tall midfielder was on loan at AFC Bournemouth and Wigan last season.

After leaving West Ham in the summer - and writing an open letter to supporters - Collison spent time on trial at QPR and played in a number of their pre-season friendlies before joining the Blues squad for training at Playford Road in mid-August.

Qualifying for Wales via his grandfather, Collison has won 17 full caps without scoring an international goal.

Collison, who has already appeared for Town’s U21s on a number of occasions, will wear the number 31 shirt.

Photo: Action Images

tractorboy12341234 added 14:25 - Sep 26 On the bench for Rotherham or is it too late?
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essexboy added 14:25 - Sep 26 Well he took his time,not sure if that is a good or bad thing.Having said that,when fit could be a big plus for the club.COYB.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 14:28 - Sep 26 Can't be bad. Good to have strength in depth if the injuries kick in. If it works out, maybe he'll stay into next year as well. If not, well, thanks and good luck.
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Marcus_Evans added 14:30 - Sep 26 If it works, he won't be here beyond December.
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NoCanariesAllowed added 14:30 - Sep 26 Well I for one am glad this is sorted. The short-term deal on the table was getting shorter and shorter by the day! Regardless of what one can imply from the length of time it's taken to get this deal signed, it's an extra man in our squad with some quality in him and gives us a bit more depth in a part of the team where we've been needing it most. Best of luck to him.

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DallianAttkinson added 14:31 - Sep 26 Very happy with this sighing, he was quality when I last saw him play, which was a while ago now but as they say form is temporary class is permanent, let's hope he is fit enough for the physical championship!
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bongoblue91 added 14:33 - Sep 26 If you actually read the above you can see it states that he won't be involved against Rotherham! Good signing anyway, about time he signed though, I thought he was going to go elsewhere
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RossDW added 14:34 - Sep 26 I think this a great deal. He will provide that extra strength in depth and it gives MM & TC longer to look at him. On a separate not, did anyone else think Ambrose's brief cameo at Wigan showed he could be the class passer we lack?!
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essexboy added 14:40 - Sep 26 RossDW. I thought Ambrose was a fair bit off match fitness,but still showed some class.Only time will tell as will Collison.
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Monkey_Blue added 14:40 - Sep 26 Ambrose came on at a difficult time, when we were on the back foot and didn't have too much of the ball, but he showed glimpses of quality. I think tomorrow might be a game for him to really show some quality as I would expect us to have plenty of possession regardless of the game situation. Pleased with the collison deal just hope it's not going to make MM feel he has enough in midfield if JW becomes available.

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essexboy added 14:44 - Sep 26 I think we must forget JW.according to the press he had a very good game for Palace the other night.
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daniel9624 added 14:50 - Sep 26 Hope this doesn't mean Bishop or Hyam taking a backstep as i believe these two are the longer term option for ITFC
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bluemikey100 added 15:05 - Sep 26 more quality for free cant be bad can only help towards promotion
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Seasider added 15:46 - Sep 26 Expect he was waiting for another/better offer but who can blame him. Despite his injuries has played quite a few games in Prem and Championship. Cant remember seeing him play;but recalled name from his West Ham days;so should be an additional asset.Nice to see Mick adding some decent footballers to the squad. Realise as I think he does that he is a bit of a 'sick note';but thats not his fault.Very impressed with the open letter he wrote to West Ham Club and would seem to fit Micks idea of a 'good egg'! Hope it works out for him (and us)?

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EatonBlue added 16:58 - Sep 26 It's symbiotic.
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rugbytomc added 17:03 - Sep 26 he's better than Hyam when he's fit so I would expect him to push for a starting place and help improve the likes of Hyam and Bishop - we've already seen Hyam raise his game this season with increased competition
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muccletonjoe added 23:08 - Sep 26 Very few people could have performed better than luke hyam last Monday.
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commuterblue added 08:22 - Sep 27 his open letter is well written and worth a read
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