Boss Mick McCarthy said he was “thrilled” for Michael Chopra after the striker came off the bench to score Town’s final-minute winner in their 2-1 victory at Bolton on Saturday, the Blues’ first ever win at the Reebok Stadium. The Town manager also revealed that the idea of playing Bradley Orr in the centre of midfield had its roots in a game he saw almost a decade ago.
Chopra slammed home the rebound after Trotters keeper Adam Bogdan spilled Orr’s volley from the edge of the area, much to the delight of his boss: "I was thrilled for him because I think he’s had some tough times with us. He’s done nothing other than be excellent with me — trained well, travelled, been on the bench.
"I said on Wednesday, ‘You can have a day off if you want it’, but he came and played in the U21s [practice] game. His attitude’s been terrific. It was a great striker’s goal. He’s a player, a proper player, make no mistake about that.”
After the game McCarthy said he felt Chopra and fellow subs Daryl Murphy and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas had won the game for the Blues, but equally as important were the manager’s tactical changes, amongst the most significant switching Orr from right-back to central midfield.
Orr, like Chopra, came through the youth system at Newcastle United before moving on to Bristol City in 2004 and McCarthy said he recalled seeing the loanee from Blackburn in such a role at that early stage of his career.
"The first time I saw him play he was playing for Newcastle reserves in centre midfield,” McCarthy recalled. "I asked him in the week, because [with Nigel Reo-Coker and Luke Hyam injured] we were two men down, if he would do it for me and he said it was no problem.
"Andy Drury was looking a bit knackered, he’d not played a lot and I just thought it would give us a bit more bite, and as it turned out it worked. It’s nice when it works, isn’t it?”
Meanwhile, Bolton boss Dougie Freedman felt keeper Adam Bogdan wasn’t to blame for Town’s winning goal despite failing to hold on to Orr’s strike: "It’s taken a deflection, he’s got a couple of people in front of him, he’s done well even to get anything on it, so there’s certainly no complaints, in fact I thought he was one of our better players.”
He added: "We’ve got to understand how to see out a game. I think that’s the big message from today.”