Blues striker Noel Hunt believes Town boss Mick McCarthy is probably the best manager he has played under during his career. The Irishman has also been impressed with what he’s seen of fellow recent signing Freddie Sears.

The 32-year-old says he was delighted when he heard McCarthy and his assistant Terry Connor were keen to sign him during his unhappy spell at Leeds: “When I found out that the gaffer and TC were interested in me it really excited me.

“I’ve always admired the manager. He got Wolves promoted when I was at Reading and we fell short in the play-offs. We lost our last game of the season against Birmingham and Wolves leapfrogged us into second place.

“I know how tough his teams are and how hard they work. He’s brilliant and probably the best manager I’ve had.

“He knows what he wants and it’s not rocket science. You get the feeling — and this is the right way to think in football — that if you don’t do what he wants he’ll find someone else who will.

“You need to be ruthless in this league and you want to win. To do that you must have the mentality of everyone buying into the manager’s way of playing.”

Hunt has also welcomed fellow new boy Sears, adding: “He’s been great and he’s a good lad.

“Freddie has two good feet, he’s sharp and he has a lot to offer. His signing adds to the competition for places and I think it’s great that we have four strikers all with different attributes.

“It’s great for the manager that he has so much variety to choose from when he picks his team.

“We’re at the business end of the table, challenging for the automatic promotion places, and to do that you need to have competition for places throughout the squad. It keeps all of us on our game and at the peak of fitness and mentality.

“It’s good that Freddie has come in because I think he’s a good addition for us. There are loads of options for the manager and it’s just down to what he thinks on the day.

“We all trust him and we believe in what he is trying to do. For me, the way he wants us to play is the right way.”

Photo: Action Images

maninashed added 18:31 - Feb 3 It's nice to see the realists are back.
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