Town boss Mick McCarthy says he will resist the temptation to rush Jonny Williams back into action after the ankle injury which has so far prevented the Wales international from making his fourth Blues’ debut.
Williams rejoined Town on a season-long loan on deadline day but suffering from an ankle injury he picked up in pre-season with parent club Crystal Palace.
McCarthy left the 22-year-old out of his squad for Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Brighton despite the Wales international having joined in training with the Town squad earlier in the week.
"He’s not in the 18, he’s just come back after six weeks off and he’s trained with us and he looks fine on that small pitch,” McCarthy said prior to the Seagulls' visit.
"I’ve got a duty of care to players. The temptation is to say, ‘Let’s put Jonny on the bench and we might get 20 minutes out of him’.
"But I seem to remember doing that at Sheffield Wednesday [in September 2014] when he scored the equaliser and he came off because he had a tight thigh, although he continued to play.
"If he was my player, which he is now for the moment, when they’ve been off that long without having had an U23s game or a behind-closed-doors or reserves game none of them would play in the first team. I think that’s probably what’s going to have to happen with Jonny.”
Williams is likely to play in an U23s game during the international break and seems likely to be in the Blues squad for the first time at Blackburn on Saturday 15th October.