Manager Mick McCarthy says he wishes former Blue Lee Martin well for his future despite feeling that it was better for the 26-year-old to move on during the summer. Martin left Portman Road after four years at the end of last season, subsequently joining today’s opponents Millwall on a one-year deal.
Both McCarthy and Martin have their family homes in Bromley and the Blues boss says he has bumped into the midfielder since he left the club: "Yes, I have, and I stood on his toe. We live in close proximity and I don’t try and avoid him.”
The former Manchester United man was initially offered much reduced terms by McCarthy in the summer, but ultimately the Town manager agreed with the player that it was perhaps time for a parting of the ways.
"It was better for all of us [that he moved on], I think,” McCarthy said. "He’d been here for a while, I think he felt it was better to move on and I did in the end. We shook hands on that and it was amicable.
"And, except for Saturday and when we play them again, I wish him the very best of luck. I’ve no axe to grind with Lee at all.”
Millwall manager Steve Lomas is someone else familiar to the Town boss, the one-time midfielder having revealed that he cleaned McCarthy’s boots when he was a young player at Manchester City.
"I’ve had a few people claim to clean my boots. I think Paul Lake and Andy Hinchliffe have claimed that one as well,” the Town boss recalled.
"And they weren’t that good, let me tell you. I only wore two boots so if they were all doing one each [they couldn't have been up to much]! He’s just trying to make me feel old and make me feel insecure about my age.”
The Town boss was impressed with the job Lomas did with St Johnstone before his move back down south this summer: "He’s done really well. I spoke to him quite a bit up there. He’d phone and ask if we’d got players for loan.
"He’s serious about it and he’s got a good job there. He’s done really well. I know they were beaten on the first day of the season, but that happens against a team that’s come up like Yeovil. I like him, Steve, and I hope I still like him at the end of the game.”
McCarthy disagrees with those who have tipped the Lions for the drop: "Would you expect me to say I expect them to struggle just before we play them?
"I don’t think that’s the case. They had a good season up until the last knockings last year. But they had an FA Cup run and I just think they ran out of steam a little bit.
"They lost good players. They signed Chris Wood [on loan from West Brom], he scored all the goals and they lost him [when he joined Leicester]. You can’t afford to lose that amount of goals. That was the one which really stuck out for me.
"This year, they’ve signed Steve Morison from Leeds, Scott McDonald from Middlesbrough, they’ve just taken Nicky Bailey from Middlesbrough on a free, they’ve taken Shaun Derry on loan from QPR. They’re all really experienced Championship players.
"Then they’ve got Dan Shittu and Mark Beevers at the back. Down the middle of the pitch is a fair spine to the team.
"I don’t think they’ve got a bad squad at all. I don’t see them struggling. I think they’ve got good players for this level.”