Boss Mick McCarthy says he’s felt for keeper Bartosz Bialkowski, whose opportunities have been limited since he joined the Blues from Notts County in the summer.
The 27-year-old Pole, who signed on a free transfer but with the Magpies receiving cash if the Blues are promoted and a percentage of a future sale, is set to make his home debut for Town tonight with first-choice Dean Gerken absent with the groin strain he suffered in the warm-up at Blackpool on Saturday.
Having made his Blues debut in the Capital One Cup defeat at Crawley in August, Bialkowski - who previously had a spell on loan with Town late in the 2008/09 campaign without making a senior appearance - was an unused sub until his late call into the side for his league debut at Bloomfield Road.
"Bart’s great, I’ve felt for him,” McCarthy admitted. "You see him in training, he breaks their hearts with some of the saves he makes.
"But Gerks was my first choice, he understood that. He came on that understanding and Gerks has done nothing wrong, he’s had a good season. But he’s hurt his groin so opportunity knocks and he did well [at Blackpool].”
In addition to Gerken, Jonny Williams (calf), Cole Skuse, Teddy Bishop and Jonny Parr (all also groin) are unavailable for tonight’s game.
McCarthy is pleased to have added the likes of Darren Ambrose and Jack Collison - who is unlikely to be involved having played and suffered a knock with the U21s yesterday - to his squad.
"It was important that we took those just to give us a bit more strength in depth and it looks like we’re going to need them,” he said.
"We’ve got depth in central midfield and depth in wide midfield with Alex Henshall, Tabby, Hunty, Ando, Cameron Stewart and Elliott Hewitt can play there.
"We’ve got depth up front with Murph, Didz, Balint Bajner and Conor Sammon. That’s all right, it’s the back four really. We’ve had Matt Clarke as a sub and now we’ve got Elliott Hewitt back, so we’ve got six defenders.
"Thank goodness they’re keeping themselves fit. Suspensions, of course, are another matter altogether.”