Manager Mick McCarthy says returning winger Cameron Stewart faces stiff competition for a place in his side. The summer signing is yet to make his Blues debut having suffered a broken jaw in pre-season and then a minor knee injury when making his comeback in the U21s a fortnight ago.
The 23-year-old, signed on a free transfer following his release by Hull and the collapse of a move to Leeds, was back in action again for the U21s in the 2-2 draw at Crewe on Wednesday and is expected to be in Mark Kennedy’s side when they take on Swansea in Town’s first ever U21 Premier League Cup game at Portman Road on Monday (KO 7pm).
"I was at the game the other night and he did OK in it, he got better,” McCarthy said. "It got to about 75 minutes and he started running out of gas, which tells me he needs games.
"He’s not had a lot of football. We’ve another game on Monday and if he’s involved on Sunday then he’ll play in that.”
He added: "There is good competition for his place, so whoever gets in needs to play well. It’s lovely.
"It’s not about keeping them happy because I don’t think they’re ever happy when they’re out, it’s about staying part of the team, knowing that if somebody gets injured or suspended that they’re going to get their chance, they have to play well and be self-motivated, be ready to go.
"We treat them well here, I think they enjoy coming in to training, but they’re not happy if they’re not playing. It’s what level that gets to, whether they can tolerate being out of the team.
"If we’re winning, there’s little anybody can do really, [they can’t come] knocking at my door when we’re getting good results.”
Meanwhile, McCarthy says he opted to play the Nottingham Forest game on Sunday having also been given the option of it taking place on the Friday night, the match having switched away from Saturday as Notts County were also scheduled to play at home this weekend.
"I was asked if we could play it Friday or Sunday,” he said. "One, I didn’t want to play Sheffield Wednesday away on the Tuesday and then come back and go straight back up there when we haven’t got a game for two weeks.
"And two, I didn’t want to play under the lights at Forest on a Friday night because the atmosphere’s better. And three, we’ve got a bit of time in between the games and the travelling because we’ve got to travel again and then we haven’t got a game for two weeks.”