Boss Mick McCarthy believes recent signing Kevin Bru will bring a bit of subtlety to the Town midfield but warns that the 25-year-old Mauritian international will, like Hungarian striker Balint Bajner, take time to adjust to the rigours of the Championship.
"I think he can add a bit of subtlety, he can find a pass,” McCarthy said of the Parisian-born midfielder, who made his debut as a sub late on in last week’s 2-1 victory over Fulham before starting the Capital One Cup tie at Crawley on Tuesday. "And I would hope he’d get a goal because of his technical ability.
"He’ll find it, like Balint’s finding it, totally alien to him. This isn’t like playing in Bulgaria or in France or even if Germany, wherever they’ve been playing.
"It’s completely different but I think they’re both doing OK and it’s a long old season. They’ll both give us something this year, I think.”
The Town boss feels Bru could operate very effectively if the Blues switched to a central midfield trio: "Playing in a three, he keeps hold of the ball, Kevin Bru, he’s a good passer, very technical, very gifted, he’ll find a pass.
"I just asked him whether he found the game the other night quick. He paused before saying no. I think he was lying!”
As for Bajner, who started the Fulham game before being withdrawn shattered just before half-time and came off the bench at Crawley, McCarthy says he has to learn the differences between playing in Germany, where he has been a regular with Borussia Dortmund’s B team for the last two seasons, and Championship football.
"In Germany he wins every header in the air and in Germany if he doesn’t go down when he gets touched from behind and get a foul he’s in trouble.
"I said that if he does that here he’s in bigger trouble, so stand up and don’t go looking for them!
"There’s a bit of that going on, but we saw him in pre-season contributing. He can play and he’ll be an asset for us. They both will.”