Blues boss Mick McCarthy says it was performances in training which won 17-year-old Andre Dozzell his first Championship appearance of the season as the Blues won 3-2 at Wigan Athletic last week.
Prior to starting against the Latics, the England U18 international’s only appearance of the season had been the EFL Cup defeat to Stevenage, although he had been on the first-team bench nine times without adding to last season’s goalscoring Championship debut as a sub at Sheffield Wednesday and first start and home debut against Fulham.
McCarthy said the former Copleston High School pupil had come close to being involved a few weeks ago - TWTD previously reported he was in contention to start against QPR - and says he got the nod after catching the eye at Playford Road.
"Because of what he did in training,” McCarthy said when asked why he started Dozzell at the DW Stadium.
"He trained two weeks ago and I was tempted then, he absolutely ran the training session, he was great. That’s not always been the case.
"And he’s continued to train really well. He does his strength and conditioning with Lids [fitness coach Andy Liddell] in the morning. He’s certainly got physically better and I thought he deserved his chance.
"And I also thought going up there playing 4-3-3 against Wigan, if we couldn’t go and do it against Wigan then, with the greatest of respect to them, I wanted to go there and win and I played an attacking team accordingly.”
Did he feel the switch to 4-3-3 with Dozzell and the now-injured Jonny Williams ahead of Cole Skuse in midfield worked well? "It’s horses for courses at times. I played that against Wigan and I thought it was the right way to do it and it looked like that because I thought we bashed them for about 30 minutes.
"And then for 15 minutes in the second half it looked like the wrong system because they were all over us and bashing us. I went to 4-4-2 and we ended up winning it. It’s what’s required at any given time with me.”
He added: "He started the game getting forward, I thought he and Jonny were a real threat in that first half an hour when we played well, they were the ones that were carrying a threat forward and pressing from the front.
"I was really pleased with them. I would say though that after half-time we weren’t carrying that threat and we were a bit wide open as well.
"Doz is an attacking threat, he’s not a deep-lying one, he’s one that needs to take the ball to the opposition in their half.”
McCarthy says that Dozzell is unlikely to be a week-in, week-out starter during the second half of the season.
"I’m not going to give him or you a schedule for what I’m going to do with him,” he said when asked to outline how he plans to use the midfielder during the second half of the season.
"I thought he and Jonny were pretty good in the first half, but in the second half it needed stiffening up a bit because they were overrunning us. He’ll get his games.
"[It’ll be about picking] the right moments as much as the right shape of the team as well. He’s got plenty to offer, but is he going to play the rest of the games from now for all the season? I doubt that very much.
"I think he’s still developing physically, there’s no doubt about his quality but it is a tough old league to learn in.”
He added: "If we’d just won four or five on the bounce and were on the up, it’s much easier to cut your teeth then.
"But when we’re not it just makes it even harder for lads to come and expect them to carry the weight of it.”
Meanwhile, McCarthy was delighted to have Brett Pitman back in the starting line-up for the first time as he scored twice at Wigan, the striker having suffered an ankle ligament injury at Leeds in September which kept him out until earlier this month.
"I think we’ve missed him from when he got injured,” he said. "He hasn’t got the power and pace that Murph’s got but he’s still that competitor, you can play off him, if it goes up there it sticks.
"He’ll compete aerially, which is pretty important in this league, and he’s a fabulous finisher.”