McCarthy: Pitman Relishing Being the Top Man Friday, 23rd Sep 2016 06:00 Town boss Mick McCarthy says Brett Pitman is relishing being the Blues’ number one striker but would welcome the Channel Islander having more competition for his place in the side. Speaking after the 0-0 draw with Aston Villa last Saturday McCarthy said he didn’t think he could keep “whipping him every week... Saturday-Tuesday, Saturday-Tuesday” and the Blues manager would welcome the 28-year-old being pushed for his place. “It would be nice but Reg [Luke Varney] has just damaged his hamstring and is a doubt and Besty’s not fully fit,” McCarthy said. “I thought Tom Lawrence really helped out in that respect on Saturday. So he’s going to have to keep legging it for now.” He added: “I think Pits is just a really good footballer. He’s played in midfield for us, he’s played wide left for us, he’ll go and do whatever I ask him to do. “It’s a lovely thing to have as a manager or a coach to be able to say, ‘Would you go and do that?’ and they do it, ‘Would you fill in?’. “But he’s enjoying that role, he’s enjoying being the number one striker in the team and I think he brings everybody else into play. “And I really do think he’s done it selflessly, I think he’s been terrific in [recent matches]. I think he played them all until I took him off for 10 minutes in the last game. I think he’s relishing the fact that at the moment he’s the top man, the number one striker.” Leon Best made a promising first-team debut as a sub in the final minutes against Villa and nearly netted what would almost certainly have been a winning goal with his first touch. The striker, who was 30 on Monday, celebrated his birthday by scoring his third U23s goal in three games in the 4-0 win against Leeds. “He’s trained really well this week, he’s trained well today, he’s been playing up front on his own,” McCarthy continued. “He’s getting there but he’s not had his pre-season. “I was pleased with him the other night, he put a shift in, certainly when Ben Morris went on with him, Ben certainly benefited from having him on the pitch. “He’s a real handful, it would have been lovely for him, for everybody, for us to have won the game. Had he scored with his first touch, that certainly gets people warming to you.” The Blues manager was also impressed with Morris’s display, the 17-year-old England U18 international having scored twice after coming on as a first-half sub for Varney.  “He’s getting better and better, I think he’s growing into it,” McCarthy said. “Sometimes when they come into the first team there’s almost an embarrassment, they’re not quite wanting to stand out from the crowd. “But he played the other night and he stood out like a sore thumb, especially his second goal. “It’s not easy coming from the U18s and playing with the first team, they’re bigger, stronger, quicker, but he’s certainly doing well, he’s doing better and better when he trains with us. “He trained this morning and I thought from coming on as a sub he was excellent on Monday night.” The Town boss says Morris can learn from his senior strikers as well as his assistant manager Terry Connor. “He can get out working on his finishing with TC, he’ll educate him, he’ll school him in the art of finishing better than anybody,” McCarthy added. “But watching all the others, of course, we have got some good ones. They’re different, each and every one of them has got their own special attributes and if he can pick up bits from everybody he’ll be a good player.”
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