Town boss Mick McCarthy says midfielder Luke Hyam’s loan spell with today’s opponents Rotherham earlier in the season worked well for all parties.
Hyam, 24, made two starts and three sub appearances for the Millers between November and December as he continued his comeback from the knee injury which had kept him out of action since January last year.
"He can play for us, can’t he?” McCarthy joked. "Footballers are insecure because I think he thought I was trying to get him out of the door and pedal him up to Rotherham and see him on his way.
"No matter how many times I explained to him it was because he hadn’t played for [10] months and he needed to play.
"It really was a symbiotic deal that worked out well for all of us. He’s come back and he’s been great, I’ve been delighted with him.
"I was never anything other, it was just that he hadn’t played and sadly that loan arrangement isn’t going to be available to any of us next season, which is bonkers, in my view.”
Meanwhile, McCarthy says he didn’t need to pull Ainsley Maitland-Niles to one side for a special word this week, despite having left the on-loan Arsenal youngster out of the 18 on Tuesday.
"A little bit of insecurity makes you run harder, I’ve always found, it makes you work harder,” the Town boss continued.
"I speak to him all the time. It’s sometimes a misconception that something happens in a football club and I then have to go and speak to a player to explain my reasons.
"There’s an ongoing dialogue with players, so there’s due care and attention for all of them."
"But everybody’s under threat, that’s just the way it is and not just from someone coming in, from someone who is in the building if they’re playing better.
"Certainly not after one bad game or two bad games, that doesn’t do it for me, you’ve got to be in a bad run of form before I start leaving them out.”