Boss Mick McCarthy says he brought in Manchester United’s Reece Brown earlier this week to add to his options in a number of areas. The 21-year-old is primarily a centre-half, like his older brother Wes, but the Blues manager says he can operate in a variety of roles.
McCarthy says signing the Mancunian adds to the squad’s depth and, with Brown’s contract up in the summer, also allows him to assess whether he might be viewed as a longer term addition.
"We signed him to bring in another versatile player really,” he explained. "Because we lost Anthony Wordsworth, he can do a sitting midfield player’s job, he can play centre-back, he can play right-back. And it gives us a chance to have a look at him down here while he trains with us.
"It’s great, he’s a Manchester United player, quite clearly brought up properly, he can handle the ball, is technically very good. He looks a good athlete and is certainly a good specimen, 6ft 3in tall, he’s taller than I am.”
The Blues boss says Brown sees himself as a centre-half above all else: "Centre-back is his favoured position and I guess Wes would say that as well, without asking him.
"It’s nice when you can play two or three positions because you’ve more chance of getting a game.”
McCarthy says players benefit from being brought up at Old Trafford and not just in terms of their footballing ability: "You generally get good people out of there as well because that’s what Sir Alex would demand out of them. Standards, they have standards, high professional standards.
"Good quality technically, they can all play, they wouldn’t even get into their academy if they can’t handle the ball and play with it.
"And generally they are good characters and good personalities. They’ve got good role models above them at every level.
"That’s what we hope. It’s never going to work every time, but if you can get the right ones out of there, they’ve all been brought up properly.”
Photo: ITFC