Town boss Mick McCarthy says new loanee Paul Digby has all attributes required to be a central defender. The 20-year-old, who joined on loan from Barnsley until the end of the season last week, will make his Blues debut at the heart of the defence alongside Piotr Malarczyk in this afternoon’s home FA Cup third round tie against Portsmouth.
"He’s a good size, he’s quick enough, he can actually play football from there. You can add that onto it making sure you’ve got clean sheets first and foremost,” said McCarthy, an international central defender during his playing days.
"He can head it, he reads the game well, he doesn’t mind following people in, he doesn’t mind a tackle, he likes to stop the ball going in his net and block things.
"All those things which are much maligned with the sexy players but without them the sexy players don’t really get a chance to play.”
A former England U19 and U20 international, Digby made his Barnsley debut at 16 having come through the youth system at Oakwell - where McCarthy also learnt his trade - but subsequently failed to establish himself in the Barnsley side and has made only 11 starts and 14 sub appearances, just one League One start and two Johnstone’s Paint Trophy sub appearances this season.
"He has [had a few injuries] and I think he’s just had a growth spurt as well and sometimes that takes its toll,” McCarthy continued.
"He’s played in a number of positions, he’s played at full-back, he’s played in the centre of midfield, centre-back. I would like him to concentrate on that and I think he’ll make a good one.”
He says the 6ft 4in tall Sheffield-born player may benefit from moving away from the comforts of being at a local club.
"I hope so, who knows? It’s not the first time I’ve taken a chance on somebody,” he added. "I remember Tyrone Mings walking across there and after five minutes I thought ‘I’ll sign him’.
"We had Kevin Bru in and he’s been a success. All right, we had the other one, the big centre forward, Balint Bajner, that didn’t work out, but let me tell you, if you get 50 per cent right, you’re doing OK.
"This fella’s got a bit of a pedigree in terms of him coming through the youth ranks and he’s come in and impressed, he’s not looked out of place in training, in fact he’s looked very much at home.”
McCarthy dismissed suggestions of a fairy tale for Digby, having gone from the U21s at Barnsley to a debut for Town.
"It’s no fairy tale, it’s getting your head down and grafting,” McCarthy insisted. "And, to be fair, Diggers has come in and he’s trained well and he’s impressed me enough to want to play him. If he hadn’t be wouldn’t be anywhere near it.”
Regarding his decision to announce his team publicly a day before the game, he said: "The reason I’ve named it is that I don’t want all that nonsense like ‘I got the teamsheet and pinned it up and I saw it’ and that it was motivation for their players.
"Well, there you are, it’s done. If they feel motivated by that team, that I’ve somehow demeaned the competition, which I completely and utterly haven’t, well good luck to them.”
He says there are good reasons why managers don’t make a habit - as is common in rugby - of naming their teams the day prior to matches.
"We can all sort out who we’re going to be marking from freekicks and corners, we’ll know if there’s a certain player taking freekicks what he does with them,” he added.
"We’ll know if there’s a certain penalty taker on the pitch, we can give the goalkeeper something to do.
"There’s a lot more preparation than just throwing us all out on the pitch. If they’re playing a certain team we’ll know whether the wingers play on the inside or go on the outside, we’ll know if they’ve got a sitter, if they’ve got a number 10 playing rather than two centre forwards, if we know the team early on.
"And if you get that information you can prepare that little bit better. I guess I’ve just given that away but we’ll be 4-4-2 against them and that’s what the team is.
"I don’t need any of that ‘We saw the teamsheet in the dressing room an hour before and that inspired us because they’ve somehow disrespected us’ nonsense. That’s not disrespecting anybody, Portsmouth or the FA Cup.”
Meanwhile, former Blues winger Stephen Hunt has joined Tony Mowbray's Coventry City on a short-term deal.
The 34-year-old was released by Town at the end of last season. In the summer a move to Cardiff broke down, while he more recently spent time on trial with Rotherham.
Photo: ITFC