Boss Mick McCarthy has hailed Blackpool danger man Tom Ince as one of the current stars of the Championship. The 21-year-old, whose father Paul is on the verge of taking over as manager at Bloomfield Road, scored twice and claimed three assists in the Seasiders’ 6-0 home victory over the Blues in August.
McCarthy said: "He is one of the stars of the Championship, playing in a system which suits him. They play 4-3-3 and he’s particularly good at that. He plays on the right side, coming on his left foot.
"He was set to be one of the stars at Liverpool. I remember when I was at Wolves and our kids played them there in a Youth Cup tie.
"But for whatever reason he’s gone out to Blackpool. He’s playing games in a meaningful league, not in an U21s league, a league where you need to win games.
"He’s playing against fellas, you toughen up, you get better and he is one of the stars of the league at the minutes.”
Ince was in Nyon, Switzerland yesterday for the FA's appeal regarding the sanctions imposed against him and Tottenham defender Steven Caulker by UEFA relating to the incidents after the England U21 match in Serbia in October. The wideman's one-match ban was upheld.
McCarthy says his squad have worked on counteracting the system which suits 17-goal Ince so well: "We’ve discussed it, we did a bit on the training ground this morning with regard to that because they do play in a loose way, if you like.
"It can cause you problems, but likewise you can cause them problems. As with any other system there are fors and againsts.”
The Blues boss says the Seasiders’ season has been hampered by manager Ian Holloway departing and then his replacement Michael Appleton moving on after only 65 days in charge: "It can’t help when they keep changing the manager.
"Ollie left to go to Crystal Palace and they were top of the league. You couldn’t fault him for that and he’d probably done his time there at Blackpool, having got them promoted and into the play-offs.
"Having left, Michael Appleton took over. I don’t know how many days he stayed, a very, very short stint, and it’s left to [caretaker-manager] Steve Thompson again to pick up the pieces.
"It’s not been easy for them, but they’ve had some really good results in spite of the uncertainty regarding the manager. And they’re a good side.”
Regarding Paul Ince, who is likely to be watching his new players if not actually in charge during today's game, McCarthy was impressed with the job he did one of his previous clubs: "He had a remarkable time at the MK Dons, that’s why he ended up getting the Blackburn job.
"Whatever else has happened since, it’s not for me to comment on really, I wouldn’t really know.
"I wonder if it’ll be good for his lad. If like every other dad he judges his lad and gives him too much criticism he might not play well tomorrow! I’m kind of living in hope that that’s the case - that he gets [the job] and he’s in his earhole tonight!
"But at the minute they haven’t got him and the real threat is Tom Ince, and we’ll have to be on our guard tomorrow.”