Boss Mick McCarthy says young striker Jack Marriott is enjoying training with the first team. The 19—year-old, who scored for the U21s in their 1-1 draw with Bristol City on Monday, has regularly been on the bench since Paul Taylor rejoined Peterborough on loan but is yet to add to his debut as a sub at Burnley on the final day of last season.
"He’s enjoying it,” McCarthy said. "He trained with [the first team] today and scored a good goal. He has the happy knack of putting the ball in the net. He’s loving training with the first team.”
With Taylor due to be away for the next two Town games, the academy product will be hoping to have further involvement at Bolton on Saturday or in the live Sky game against Barnsley at Portman Road next Friday.
Also spending time with the senior squad is 18-year-old winger Jordan Adekunle, although McCarthy says the former Crawley youngster isn't yet ready for match involvement: "Jordan has trained with the first team quite a lot and he doesn’t look out of place. He’s definitely got something. He’s not ready for the first team, but he’s got something.”
The Blues boss, who spent yesterday winning the Town staff and players competition at the club's golf day at Ufford Park, says 19-year-old winger Jack Doherty, who was signed for £20,000 from Waterford United in Ireland in the summer, has had a more difficult start to his Town career: "Jack’s had a lot of injuries unfortunately, which has hampered him.
"I think he’s felt it being away from home as well, so he’s not really progressed at all. He needs to get himself fully fit and we’ll see.”