Roy Keane says he allowed winger Andros Townsend to return to his parent club Tottenham last week because he felt the youngster wouldn’t play enough games for the Blues. Townsend, 19, was due to remain on loan at Portman Road until the end of the season before his spell was curtailed last week.
Keane said: "With the way we’re set up and the fact that we’ve been losing games, I couldn’t guarantee him the minutes.
"With January coming up, I knew he could get the opportunity to go back out to another club, which would be fair to him with him not getting the minutes here. I’ve said the same to one or two of the other loan players who have come in, but we can cross that bridge in January.
"But with Andros having a deal to the end of the season, I thought it was only fair that he had the option to go back if he fancied it and we wouldn’t stand in his way. You have to agree between both clubs and the player and we’ve all agreed that it’s probably best for the player.”
The Blues boss felt that although Townsend offered a lot going forward, his side could do with someone more defensively-minded and more experienced: "He’s clearly a talented boy, but at the moment I think I probably need one or two more experienced players and one or two more defensive players. Because he’s so good going forward, he’s suffered from the fact we’ve lost matches.”