Boss Mick McCarthy says he’s delighted with his squad but says he wants to add back-up with fixtures coming thick and fast in the final months of the season. Middlesbrough right-back Frazer Richardson is understood to be joining on loan ahead of Tuesday’s game at Leeds.
"I think the squad I’ve got is really good and tight and close but I don’t think we’ve got a great deal of back-up,” he said. "There’s not a lot of young ones who you could say ‘He’s ready, he could just go in’. It’s a matter of getting them fit and they manage themselves well.
"But I’m looking to try and get some help and a bit of back-up because what I don’t want is to find myself with three or four injured, although the emergency loan window is open until well into March.
"I don’t want to get into March and find out that I’m struggling because the scheduled then is bonkers, it’s nuts.”
Although he has lost midfielder Luke Hyam for a few weeks after he suffered a gash to his leg at Millwall, McCarthy says he’s got experienced players who can take over.
"It’s not like we’re having to put kids in, we’ve got good players to go back in. I think they’re different to him in that central role,” he said.
"Let’s hope he gets fit and well as quickly as he possibly can and he comes back putting pressure on whoever plays instead of him.
"I’ve got good players, I’ve got a good squad of players but I haven’t got the biggest squad of players and I can’t afford to have too many injured.”
The only other player joining Hyam on the sidelines at present is striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, who is out with a hamstring problem.
The former Wolves man will get back in action in early February when he's likely to play for the U21s with McCarthy hoping he'll be involved in the closing months of the season: "He’ll need to have a game, so if we’ve not got an U21 game he can play in we’ll arrange something.
"We’ll get him some football so he can get match practice before he gets into the first team.”
Although concerned about the effect further injuries might have, the Blues manager believes that there are upsides to having a smaller squad: "There are benefits. I’ve only had 16 outfield players so there have been 10 playing and six on the bench and I haven’t had to tell anybody they’re not on the bench.
"Leaving a fit, capable and hungry player sat up in the stand, that’s when they start getting the hump, that’s a difficult one.
"But that’s all well and good when you’re keeping 16 fit. If you’ve only got 16 and get three or four injured, that’s a problem.”
Despite the squad’s relative lack of numbers, several senior players, amongst them ex-Reading men Jay Tabb and Stephen Hunt, have had limited opportunities.
McCarthy says he maintains a regular dialogue with players in their situation: "I talk to them all the time. I don’t know what other people do, but it’s a common mistake, I think, if you wait until somebody’s upset before you [speak to them].
"They come and see you and you speak to them and defend yourself. I think you’re better off explaining your reasons why, speaking to them and catching them before they come to you because generally when they come knocking on the door they’re chewing and they’re looking for a fight. I tend to speak to them on a regular basis, not just when there’s a problem.”
McCarthy isn’t too downcast despite Town falling to three defeats on the trot: "We’ve just had two defeats, we played well against QPR but conceded soppy goals. Forget the FA Cup game, I’m not bothered about that, it’s the league I’m concerned with at the moment.
"Millwall we didn’t play well, we didn’t deserve to win, there may have been mitigating circumstances, but we didn’t deserve to win.
"But we’ve lost two games. And, you know what, losing to QPR at home, if you think about their squad and where they are, it isn’t the end of the world in terms of it being a monumental defeat.
"And losing at the Den with the squad of players they’ve got and they’ve just got the new [manager]. I can’t remember the Den being that easy a place to go and play at. I don’t get so disappointed and disaffected with it all that I think it’s suddenly a crossroads in my life.
"We might lose tomorrow and we might go and win five on the bounce. I don’t think too deeply about it. I’m concerned with Reading and then whatever happens I’ll be concerned with Leeds.”
Regarding the FA Cup exit to Preston, with hindsight he feels it would have been better to have been knocked out at Portman Road rather than via the replay at Deepdale: "I wish we’d been beaten in the first game, then we wouldn’t have had to go up there.
"I didn’t want to lose at the time, but now we’ve had the trip and come back and got back at half-past three. I was bollocksed for two days and I didn’t play.
"It does take its toll. But I’ve got no [regrets] over my line-up, I thought we had good enough players to win it.”
Overall, he says he’s been pleased with his squad: "The players have been great. I had a growl after the Preston [away] game and I think rightfully so, not for the way we played but the goals we gave away. I was growling at other things as well that I won’t talk about as it’ll get me into trouble.
"They’ve been brilliant. You have bad days, you just have bad days. I can’t give you a reason why, I could sit here and it always appears like an excuse. We’ve had a bad couple of weeks, on the back of a really good run.
"I’m delighted with them. They’re great, they’ve been absolutely outstanding, the players and there’s plenty more to come.”