Town boss Mick McCarthy is pleased that defender Tommy Smith has reaffirmed his commitment to the Blues by giving up international football with New Zealand for 12 months.
"I’ve had that discussion with Tommy,” McCarthy said. "It’s not the usual international, flying to Dublin or Scotland or London or somewhere, it is slightly different.
"I don’t know what competitive games they’ve got coming up but it’s nice that Tommy wants to commit to playing for the club.
"He’s got to be one of their best players, so maybe they should look at others if their games are friendlies, knowing that they can rely on Tommy if they want to call him for competitive games. If that’s the case, great.”
Smith has won 27 full All Whites caps, scoring two goals, and featured at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and for New Zealand’s U23 side at the 2012 London Olympics.