Boss Mick McCarthy says he'd give on-loan Crystal Palace man Jonny Williams a kick if he was marking him but believes the Wales international deals with the physical side of the game well, despite his diminutive stature.
Williams has been on the end of some rough treatment at times since he joined the Blues from Crystal Palace last month but appears to take it in his stride.
Former centre-half McCarthy admits that he’d give the 5ft 6in tall midfielder a kick if he was playing against him: "Of course I would! I wouldn’t want to be chasing him for 90 minutes, that’s for sure. If he was limping on one leg I’d have more chance of catching him!
"I’m not going to just kick him, but it’s part of the game. If you just let the best players play without any physical contact or intimidation or professionalism, whatever you want to call it, you get beaten, that’s what happens.
"Why is it that underdogs win games? It’s because they get in people’s faces and tackle them and upset them and then they play on the front foot and play their football.
"It’s part of the game. Jonny handles it so well. He’s brave, he’s courageous with the ball and courageous without it. He takes his knocks.”
He says his players have upped their performances playing alongside Williams but believes the 20-year-old has similarly stepped up: "I think maybe Jonny’s raised his game as well.
"Mind you, I said to him this morning ‘Palace are really missing you, pal!’. I greeted him with that and he said ‘Thanks, gaffer!’.
"But we’re getting the benefit of him because he’s terrific. Everybody appreciates him for what he can do, he’s a terrific talent.”
Meanwhile, McCarthy says Christophe Berra will have been delighted to win the Supporters Player of the Year award last week: "It’s a lovely feeling, especially when it’s the supporters that vote for you because whatever we think about supporters’ opinions, they know who the best players are.
"They tell you about picking teams and tactics and all of that, but they go week in, week out and know who are the good players are in the team, they know who are the best players and they recognise when people have done well for their club.”
He says he’s keen to discuss extending the Scottish international’s contract with his terms currently up at the end of June 2015: "Of course, I’d love to but that’s a conversation I’ll have to have with Christophe.”
McCarthy also had praise for left-back Tyrone Mings, who is set to drop back to the bench at Watford on Saturday with Aaron Cresswell returning from his groin injury.
"He stuck at it, he’s a good player, Ty,” the Blues boss added. "Barring the fact that we’ve probably got the best left-back in the league, arguably the best left-back in the league, Tyrone would be playing.
"That’s frustrating for him, but that’s the way it is with the squad. We’ve got games on Saturday and Monday, he might have to play on Monday, who knows.”