Town manager Paul Jewell says Michael Chopra can serve as an example to skipper Grant Leadbitter and veteran midfielder Jimmy Bullard having won back his place in the Blues’ first team this month. Senior players Bullard and Leadbitter are being kept out of the team at the moment by youngster Luke Hyam and Andy Drury, still a relative newcomer at Championship level.
Jewell said: "I don’t think there is a problem with Jimmy Bullard and Grant Leadbitter. They won’t be happy that they are not playing, but I don’t want them to be doing cartwheels because they’re not playing.
"I don’t think Chops has been used as an example too often, but he’s a senior player, a big signing who found himself out of the team and had to fight to get his way back in, which is what you want as a manager.”
The Blues boss hints that he’ll name the same XI against Middlesbrough on Saturday but says that match performances aren’t the be-all and end-all when it comes to selecting his side: "Obviously, like every player, they want to play, but at the same time we’ve had a 5-1 victory and a 3-2 victory away from home and it’s difficult to change that.
"But if I felt it needed freshening up or changing I would do. We haven’t had a settled side too often this season and I think the lads that are in the team are there on merit and it’s up to whoever is out of the team to try and get on the bench or into the team.
"I mentioned before that Michael Chopra played himself into the team with his performances in training. It was nothing that Jason Scotland did wrong, it was just that Chops played himself into it. Training is a big thing to me. The attitude of the players who are out of the team has been first class.”