Town boss Mick McCarthy says striker Freddie Sears has proved to be an even better player than he thought he was when he signed him from Colchester United in January.
The 25-year-old has scored 13 goals in 30 starts and nine sub appearances since that £100,000 switch, and is joint top scorer this season with four goals along with Brett Pitman and Ryan Fraser.
"Without a doubt with Freddie,” McCarthy said when asked whether the one-time West Ham youngster is better player than he thought he was. "He’s far harder working.
"I didn’t know him as a pro but he’s a really top pro, he just gets on with it, he’s very selfless in how he does it.
"I saw he said he’d play anywhere for the team and that’s genuine. Some players will say that and you think ‘Yeah, right!’. It sounds good, but he’s proved it, he’s done it.
"I thought he was outstanding on Tuesday night, he really put in a terrific performance. I thought the front three were terrific, I think Freddie, Murph and Pits were great.
"Freddie’s just gone out and done it, he’s much better than I thought he was. I thought he was good enough to sign him and it’s always nice when they surprise you and they’re better than you think they are.”
After Tuesday’s game McCarthy revealed that the Hornchurch-born frontman had asked him for advice on what he should be doing at particular points games in the wide role he has been asked to play in recent matches.
The Town boss says not all players will ask for further guidance in that manner: "There are some players who look you in the eye and you think they’re listening to the manager and they’re not."
"There are some who do just nod and you wish they’d said ‘Well actually gaffer, could you just explain that to me?’.
"It was me who pulled Freddie over just to tell him how well I thought he’d been doing in wide areas and how much I appreciated it.
"That was at my behest and I said a couple of things about him playing there and he said, ‘Well look, what do you want me to do there…’, which is great rather than just saying ‘I’m cool with that, I understand it’ because we’ve all done that as players.
"I’m sure I did it myself when I was younger, when the manager’s telling you to do something you nod because you’re embarrassed, you don’t want to go ‘Well, actually I’m not quite sure what you mean’, but it was Freddie and me having a chat and not in a team meeting.
"It’s always a bit embarrassing in a team meeting if you go ‘I’m not quite sure what you mean’ and then the manager bawls you out.
"I’ve seen that, I’ve never done it - ‘What do you mean you don’t know what I mean, are you thick or what!’. That’s not a good way of coaching. But I’ve seen that, believe me, but I would never do it.
"It was nice that he asked and we saw the benefit, I think he got man of the match, he was outstanding on Tuesday.”
McCarthy recalled Jonas Knudsen at left-back for the Bolton game after the Dane recovered from his hamstring problem with Jonny Parr dropping back to the bench having been part of a back four which had kept a clean sheet against Cardiff.
The Town boss says nothing he could have said to the Norwegian would have made the the situation easier for him to take: "That was the decision. I doubt he understood it or liked it, I wouldn’t want him to like it.
"If he doesn’t understand it, Jonas is my first-choice left-back. He was excellent I thought the other night, both offensively and defensively, so that’s just the way it is sometimes.
"There are times when you can’t say anything to the player you’re leaving out to make him feel better or worse. It’s my choice, that’s what I want to do, and that’s just the way it was.”
The Blues boss says it’s important to have versatile players such as Sears and Parr in a squad.
"I think it’s vital to have players who can do that because there might be a time, as it’s been in the past, when we haven’t got that many players but we’ve got one or two who can fill in and do certain roles.
"Jonny Parr covers any part of the pitch in wide areas, full-back or in midfield. Tabby’s done loads of jobs and he’s not been involved because he’s been injured but he’s back fit.
"Freddie’s been out wide and in the middle. Freddie could have had a hat-trick the other night, he had shots saved and chances just went by him on Tuesday night.
"Kevin Bru played narrow but he played on the right-hand side. It’s great that and you need it, it’s vital, especially when the game is going on and you might not want to make a certain sub, you can ask somebody to move and do something else.”