Mick McCarthy says he’s told midfielder Anthony Wordsworth to go out and give him a problem during today’s home FA Cup tie against Preston, and also to follow the example of team-mate Luke Hyam.
Yesterday, the Blues turned down loan interest in the 25-year-old from League One Rotherham United, the Town boss confirming that the ex-Colchester man would start against the Lilywhites.
"I’ve told him to give me a problem,” McCarthy said. "We’ve been playing 4-3-3, that would suit him, while the others are more suited to 4-4-2. That’s just the way it is, I was better suited at centre-half rather than centre-forward.
"And if he plays well, who knows? I don’t know what might happen for QPR next week. I don’t know how we’re going to play against QPR yet.
"He’s one of the squad, I want players to be trying to get in my team, not trying to get out of my team.”
The Town boss says Wordsworth would give him something his other midfielders don’t have but that there are areas where he can learn from the likes of Hyam, Cole Skuse and Ryan Tunnicliffe: "He’s a very technically gifted footballer. He’s got a great left foot and I think he’s got a goal in him.
"He’s a good footballer, it’s all the other stuff. Luke Hyam gets berated at times but he does all those dirty jobs and so do Skusey and Tunners, tackling and heading, that’s part of the game in that midfield area that’s vital. But Woody could add a great deal to us.”
McCarthy says the Camden-born midfielder has been a touch unfortunate since joining for £100,000 from the U’s last January: "He was injured early on then I played Cole Skuse and Luke Hyam and they were the best two.
"Then I played Tunners on the left and he’s now gone and played in the middle. It’s just been circumstances.
"When that happens players all start getting a little bit chewy as they want to play in the team. My view of it is, and he’s been OK, they should be working twice as hard.
"There are two ways of taking it, ‘Right, I’m going to work twice as hard and make sure I do get in the team and when I do get in the team he isn’t going to leave me out’ or ‘I’m never going to get in the team so I might as well not bother', which is nonsense.
"Fortunately I don’t have the latter, I generally get the first one where they do work hard and try and get in.”
He says skipper Carlos Edwards has been taking that sort of approach having dropped out of the side.
McCarthy says the 35-year-old hasn’t been happy at being out of the XI but has gone about things in the right way.
"I think on the face of it [he’s taken it] very well,” he said. "But I know he’s been chewing, I know he’s been growling a bit because he wasn’t playing on Wednesday.
"But, as I said to him, that’s the team I pick. But he’s been growling in the right way. He’s done everything exactly the same, he’s been a really good pro. He’s not been untoward with me or anybody else, he’s a really good guy.”
McCarthy, who is set to start Edwards today, says out of favour players can very quickly find themselves back in the side: "Frank Nouble nearly got left out of the team not so long ago, I had a right snarl at him and he was very fortunate that he went on and played after that incident, but look at him now, he’s doing great.
"It’s the reaction, how you deal with it. You can deal with it a couple of ways: ‘I’m only playing because it’s the FA Cup, I’m only playing because he’s injured’ and then you don’t play well.
"Or you say ‘I’m going give Big Nose a problem and make sure I’m in the team’. I prefer that, I’m cool with that.”