Town boss Mick McCarthy says 17-year-old right-back Josh Emmanuel's debut performance deserved the win the Blues looked on course to achieve at Brentford on Saturday.
McCarthy’s side were well on top and looked to be cruising to the three points until they conceded twice in injury time and the game ended in a 2-2 draw.
The Blues manager was delighted with the academy product’s debut display: "Outstanding. I said to him, I’m disappointed for me, all of us, for the club, for the fans, but for him, he should have been on the winning team today, Josh Emmanuel. He deserved that, a great debut against a good player [Alan Judge], I might add.”
McCarthy said he had had no qualms about starting with two 17-year-olds in his side with on-loan Arsenal man Ainsley Maitland-Niles also making his debut on the right of midfield.
"I didn’t think it was a risk playing two 17-year-olds,” he said. "I know them both, they’re both physically capable of playing.
"Josh Emmanuel has really stepped up to it this summer, he came back after pre-season and he came back a man. He’s trained with us every day and he’s really done well.
"Ainsley Maitland-Niles, from walking in the door, he’s just been an outstanding player. I wasn’t worried about them, and neither of them have caused me any problems [which led to the late goals], have they?”
McCarthy has even handed Maitland-Niles the responsibility of taking freekicks on the edge of the area: "He’s a confident lad, he can play. He’s a talented boy.”
He added: "When you sign players [such as Maitland-Niles] you want them to produce performances, and the pair of them did.”
Meanwhile, Town’s U21s start their season with an away game against Leeds at Elland Road this evening (7pm).