Boss Mick McCarthy says Luke Hyam and Tommy Smith handled being dropped to the bench for Saturday’s game against Millwall “remarkably well”. The duo have been regular starters throughout McCarthy’s time as Blues manager.
"They’ve been great, bitterly disappointed, both hurt, both want to play,” he said. "They’ve not come and said that to me, I just know how they feel because that’s how they are.
"I said on Saturday that they were two of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make, certainly since I’ve been here, because neither of them have done anything wrong, neither of them have played badly, but sometimes I want to change it, and that’s what I did.
"And they handled it remarkably well and they both came on and contributed to what was a fantastic win on Saturday.”
He says his changes worked out: "It’s been very hard to disrupt a back four which has been as solid and as capable and as consistent as ours has been.
"But I wanted a right-footed centre-back and a left-footed centre-back to play with our two attacking full-backs and then give them more of the ball.
"And it worked. It’s great when it works, you look a chump if it doesn’t and you make decisions like leaving Tommy and Luke out and then we get overrun and get beaten.
"But that’s what I’m paid to do, to make those decisions and as it turned out it gave us a good balance in the team and certainly the two full-backs gave us something that we haven’t had in terms of an attacking force.”
Does he believe the role of a full-back has changed in recent years? "Not really, my team [growing up] was Leeds and Terry Cooper and Paul Reaney used to rampage forward from what I remember. Then there were people like Roberto Carlos and plenty of others.
"I think either you are an attacking full-back or you’re not, except I think there’s a slight difference in that some of the attacking full-backs can’t defend now, which is a bit of a problem.
"They’ve got them in the team and they rampage forward, they’re great going forward, they put good balls in, but sometimes when they get one-v-ones I think that’s the difference.
"They’re almost like wingers who have been converted in some places. I don’t think ours are, I think they’re genuine full-backs, who have got the legs and the energy to get forward.”
He was impressed with Millwall’s two full-backs with former Blues skipper Carlos Edwards having been at right-back: "I think Millwall’s were particularly good because Carlos Edwards, probably as he’s getting older, although he’s still as fit as a flea, has dropped back. But he’s a better forward-thinking player than he is a defender.
"Scott Malone is fantastic going forward, I had him at Wolves. I thought they were as good exponents of playing as attacking full-backs as I’ve seen in the games that we’ve been watching.
"I don’t think it’s changed, I think there has always been one sitter or people have two sitters now and wingers come and play on the inside. Teams don’t have wingers so they have wide midfield players that tuck in and play inside.
"It hasn’t really changed, they are just variations and we’ll probably go back to something else at some other stage when it becomes in vogue.”