Manager Mick McCarthy has admitted he may have made a mistake in letting former striker Jason Scotland move on in January. The Blues settled the remaining months of the 34-year-old’s contract with the Trinidadian subsequently joining Barnsley for whom he has scored five goals in two starts and nine substitute appearances.
Asked whether he regretted letting Scotland leave, McCarthy admitted he rues allowing him to join one of the other clubs in the relegation battle: "I regret letting him go to Barnsley.”
Joking, he added: "I just thought I’d let him go to my hometown team and score some goals and see if we can get them out of the bottom three and we’d both stay up!”
He says Scotland’s form since he moved to Oakwell does suggest he made an error: "It looks like a mistake, doesn’t it? Because he’s scored five goals.
"Did he look like he was going to do it here? I don’t know. You move, you get a new lease of life. Good luck to him, good luck to them.
"It wasn’t evident to me or anyone else here, but fair play to him. There was no animosity when he went, none whatsoever.
"He goes and scores and it looks like a mistake, it looks like a daft move, but I can’t do anything about it, it’s happened. I’m not going to beat myself up over it. Good luck to him.”
Scotland’s short-term Tykes contract is up in the summer and his form is already attracting other clubs. We understand Doncaster Rovers could renew their interest in the close season, while Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday are both monitoring his situation.