Mick McCarthy admits that he didn’t know too much about Luke Hyam when he joined the club but says Town are lucky to have had such a talented player come through from the academy.
Having first made an impact under Roy Keane’s management, Hyam was less involved during Paul Jewell’s time as boss, but is one of the first names on McCarthy’s teamsheet.
"Luke is a really, good talented player that we’re lucky has come through the system,” the Town boss said. "It’s nice when you’ve got somebody like that who has come through the youths and the academy.
"And from me walking in the door in November, I didn’t know him really. All I knew about him was that we scouted him when we were at Wolves, [scouts] Taff [Ian Evans] had liked him, Dave Bowman [both now at Town] had liked him.
"And I didn’t see it when I came in here, but a few weeks down the line and it was quite evident that he’d got some ability and having got in the team, he’s been an ever-present, hasn’t he? He’s not been out unless he’s been injured. He’s a good player.”
McCarthy says he would have loved Hyam to have taken his late chance against Middlesbrough on Saturday when Daryl Murphy squared the ball as Town broke down the left only for the midfielder to scuff his shot.
The Blues boss says Hyam’s reaction to the miss told a lot about the 21-year-old: "Let me tell you, nobody tracked him back, he’s in there going to put the ball in the net and I didn’t see too many of their midfield players running back with him.
"What you saw from him then was that straight away he was back in and defending. I’d have loved him to have scored because he would have earned it. He’s doing very, very well, Luke.”