Town boss Mick McCarthy admitted it had been a frustrating transfer window and a frustrating night having been unable to make a permanent addition to his squad - although striker Dominic Samuel and midfielder Emyr Huws joined on loan from Reading and Cardiff respectively - while the Blues were been comfortably beaten 3-0 at home by Derby County and man of the moment Tom Lawrence suffered an ankle injury.

“Yes, it has been frustrating,” McCarthy said regarding the transfer window in which he had hoped to make the permanent signing of a striker to replace Daryl Murphy and had a number of bids of more than a million pounds turned down.

“It’s been a frustrating old day and a frustrating night as well, even more so.”

Regarding the match he was disappointed with his team’s performance: “We were beaten by the better side but we certainly helped them along with the first two goals that we gave away.”

Were there any positives he could take from the display? “Not really, I would say the positives were Grant Ward coming on and how well he played in the second half and I thought Kieffer Moore played well when he came on, he affected the game. Apart from that, no, I don’t see too many positives out of it.”

He added: “Everybody wants a reaction to it [on Saturday against Reading], it’s been a bad night for us, we don’t want another one like that.”

McCarthy says he doesn’t yet know the extent of Lawrence’s injury: “I’ll know better tomorrow, he’s rocked his ankle, how bad it is I’m not quite sure yet.”

“He was the only one carrying the threat at all in the first half and it was a blow to lose him tonight and it would be a huge blow if we lost him for any length of time.

Huws and Samuel are McCarthy’s sixth and seventh signings of the window with McCarthy believing the squad needed freshening up.

“I think we all need a bit of a livener, fresh faces and hopefully they’ll liven the place up,” he said.

McCarthy confirmed that skipper Luke Chambers was the subject of interest from Nottingham Forest: “He wasn’t talking to Nottingham Forest but they were interested in him.”

How far advanced did that get? “It got knocked back [by the club]. How far it got with anybody else, I don’t know.”

You weren’t willing to let him go? “No, not at all. With the position we’re in with our defenders, yes I know I’ve got Tommy Smith maybe coming back and Steven Taylor, but it wouldn’t have been right, just for tonight and Saturday’s games.

“Whatever they do, Tommy might come back on Monday and play [in the U23s] but he’s been out for a long time.”

Did it get to the point of Chambers talking to Forest, where he played before he joined the Blues in 2012? “I don’t know.”

Speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk, he added: “There has [been some interest in him from Forest] but we weren’t prepared to do it, simple as that.”

Might it happen in the summer or would you like to tie him down on the one-year option or beyond that? “Well, that’s the contentious issue because they’ve come in and offered him a contract, I believe, and we’ve not yet done that yet. We’ll have to wait and see.”

According to the Nottingham Post Forest had agreed personal terms with Chambers, whose contract is up at the end of the season but with the Blues having an option to keep him for a further year.

After their home game against Rotherham, which they won 2-0, Forest's interim manager Gary Brazil said: "Luke was somebody we tried very hard to get."

TWTD understands the Blues were eyeing Celtic centre-back Efe Ambrose - who subsequently joined Blackburn on loan - as a potential replacement for Chambers had he moved on.

McCarthy says his list of strikers who he wanted to add on a permanent basis was exhausted so he moved onto his loan list and signed 22-year-old Samuel.

“We couldn’t do anything permanently so we took a loan and hopefully he’ll bring something to us.

“He’s had loan spells one at Coventry, one at Gillingham, scored on both occasions and did really well, so hopefully he’ll do that here.”

The Blues boss says his team will have to be much better in the run of very difficult fixtures during February.

“Exceptionally tough, very, very tough, it’s a tough month for us,” he admitted. “We’ve got to play better than that, that’s for sure.

“We didn’t play well tonight, I thought Derby did and that’s a recipe for disaster if you don’t play well or defend well against a good side.”

Derby manager Steve McClaren was delighted with his team’s first-half display and felt they might have added to their lead after the break: “I think the second half could have been even better as well, we missed opportunities.

“But I was delighted in the second half that there was no complacency, we kept a clean sheet. I could see them wanting to fight for that and I think that’s important, not to get sloppy, complacent and to keep going all the way, which they did.

“I’ve been disappointed with the starts in recent games but I was delighted with the start in this game, and I think that’s important.

“A good message to the team that if we are on the front foot and aggressive you can win the game in the first 20 minutes, which we did.”

Photo: TWTD

portmanteau added 00:33 - Feb 2 The diehard fans who continue to turn up at PR and the incredible ones who also go all over the country will eventually be able to influence events when they finally throw in the towel and stay away. That point is going to be reached before very long and will probably gather pace as the next five matches play out. It seems only falling income will force ME to act.
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DazBent added 12:26 - Feb 2 Does anyone have a billion pounds they want to buy the club with?
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