Town boss Mick McCarthy says he’s delighted to have added Leeds centre-half Patrick Kisnorbo to his squad ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup tie at Aston Villa. The Blues manager has also revealed that short-term signing Kelly Youga will not be retained when his contract is up in the middle of this month.
Kisnorbo has joined the Blues until January 29th with McCarthy keen to add to his central defensive options with Danny Higginbotham having moved on: "The first thing I liked about him was that he was available and eligible for the weekend.
"I know him and I’ve seen him play at Leicester and I know he’s a good competitor. He’s a good defender, a good character around the place, everyone speaks highly of him.
"He has been injured, a while back, but he’s got himself fit, he’s played in U21 games and trained every day, we’ve checked that with Leeds and the fitness coaches. But he’s another one who has not been playing.
"He’s come in and I’m delighted that we’ve got him available because before that I had only Chambo and Tommy Smith as centre-backs.”
McCarthy says no other deals are imminent with the transfer window having opened on Tuesday: "I’ve made loads of calls but there's nothing moving, nothing concrete. We’ve got nobody coming in but thankfully we’ve got a week before our next league game.”
Former Charlton left-back Kelly Youga joined Town on a two-month contract that was in effect an extended trial in November, having spent much of the previous three years out due to knee problems.
However, McCarthy says the 27-year-old won’t be offered new terms: "He’s done all right, but I’m not keeping Kelly.”
Meanwhile, former Blues loanee Bilel Mohsni has failed to show for training at Southend since leaving Portman Road.
Photo: ITFC