Town manager Mick McCarthy says that contrary to weekend newspaper reports he has no plans to allow midfielder Lee Martin to move on in January. The new boss was impressed with the 25-year-old’s performance in his first game at Birmingham on Saturday.
Speaking before Tuesday’s heavy defeat at Crystal Palace, McCarthy said: "When’s his contract? End of the season? Well, that’s what he’s going to be doing as far as I’m concerned.
"He played well on Saturday, for me. He put a right good shift in. I think we can get more out of him going forward because I think he’s got more ability in an attacking sense than he actually showed. But he put a shift in which was worthy of being mentioned. He was terrific.
"I’ve got eight loan players, what am I going to do, let him go? No, no chance, mate. I need players, I can’t be letting them go.”
Martin is one of 11 permanent squad members whose contracts are up at the end of this season, along with Andy Drury, Arran Lee-Barrett, Carlos Edwards, Jason Scotland, Nathan Ellington, Jack Ainsley, Cormac Burke, Ronan Murray, Joe Whight and Cheick Kourouma.
McCarthy says the situation can motivate players: "There are two ways of looking at it. Will they keep playing and will they be committed to the place? But let me tell you, a little bit of insecurity can make them run about more, as far as I’m concerned.
"It makes you work harder if you haven’t got a contract [for the following season]. Not everybody gets a contract when they’re Bosmans any more. They don’t all fall into better clubs, better wages and better contracts. Some of them don’t get jobs.
"I would like to think that any of them that are out of contract will be running around like scolded cats trying to prove to me that they really want to be staying here, that we can stay up and we can progress.
"There are two ways of looking at it, a negative way and a positive way. Thankfully mine is the positive.”