Town boss Mick McCarthy hopes Freddie Sears might be sparked back into goal-scoring form after he and his fiancée welcomed a son into the world earlier in the week. Jake James, who was born on Wednesday, is a brother to the couple's older son, Jax.
Sears has gone 28 competitive games without a goal, although he did find the net in the opening pre-season friendly at Shelbourne.
The 26-year-old’s last goal of the 2015/16 campaign in which he netted six times came after 16 seconds in the 2-1 win at Fulham on December 15th.
"He’s just got a little lad, so that might spark it off, who knows,” McCarthy said at Thursday’s pre-match press conference.
"I’m not saying that was affecting him but, if you’ve had children, when it’s coming to the due date it’s always [in your thoughts].
"It’s family, nothing else really matters at that time. I’m not saying he’s not caring about his football because he is.
"But once it’s over and done with he can think, ‘Right, crack on, I can get on with what I do best’. Maybe that’s a little bit of it.”
McCarthy says he takes managing his players’ family situations very seriously: "The lads are all the same. They’re a young squad and they’re all reproducing. They ask, ‘I’ve got to go to a scan with my wife, can I have Tuesday off?’. ‘Yes, of course you can’. ‘I have to go and see this with my wife can I have that..?’.’ Yes’. ‘My kids need something…’. ’Yes’.
"That’s a big part of it for me because their families will be around along time after I’ve gone and a long time after they’ve gone from Ipswich so you have to look after that. It’s a big part of it.”
He says players aren’t robots and their form can be impacted by what goes on off the field with their families.
"Like everybody else, if you’ve got problems, whatever it might be, it certainly can affect your football,” McCarthy added.
"There is that side of it that when you’re in that arena you can forget everything else and play but there aren’t many like that.
"Most of them would be affected by family life. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t get people coming in ranging problems at me, not at all, but if there ever is and I can help them and assist in any way their families are more important than anything else in my view.
"I try to treat them as I would treat my children, all my children are older than most of them, my youngest is 30 in May. They’re all older than them and I’ve gone through a lot of experiences with them. I would help them on a very paternal basis.”
Moving back to Sears, the Town boss says he still views the former West Ham and Colchester man as a frontman first and foremost, despite having used him in a wide role for much of the last year.
"He’s a striker. He’s better but needs must. What I really do love about him is that if I ask him to play there it’s never, ever an issue. That’s testimony to his personality.”
Sears looks set to join Daryl Murphy up front at Brentford today with David McGoldrick sidelined for at least six weeks with an ankle injury.
After his long dry spell McCarthy believes Sears would happily accept any type of goal which comes his way at present.
"I’m speaking for him without asking him, but yes, because when I played, if goals were flying in I’d have taken a clean sheet at any stage. Yes, of course, he would, I’ve no doubt he would.”