Boss Mick McCarthy says he expects to use the full extent of his squad during the busy Christmas-New Year period in which the Blues play five games in 14 days.
"I would think so,” he said. "I think from December 21st to the 26th there’s no problem, but from 26th to the 29th to January 1st to the 4th it will test everybody’s squads and ours will be no different.”
The Town boss is a fan of the festive fixtures and, having experienced winter breaks while playing in France with Lyon, wouldn’t be in favour of a mid-season hiatus being introduced here.
"I like it, it’s part of who we are and what we do,” he added. "It’s been like it for years and years and years. Why I would I want to change it? I’ve gone and trained on Christmas Day for the last 30-odd years.
"I used to enjoy it when I’d put the dolls’ houses together and all that. I’d pretend to my kids that I didn’t really want to go and play eight-a-side on Christmas Day morning when I was actually thrilled to go.
"It was great, I’d get out the door and go ‘Yahoo!’. My wife Fiona knows, she’s OK, she’s well aware I was happy to go and play football!
"It’s part of the gig is the way I see it. You’ve got to try and make sure that you use the squad and it’s an important time.
"If we get the right results we could be in the top six or we could be down staring at the bottom six if we don’t because the league will be as such. We’ve got to try and make the most of it and I quite enjoy it.”