Town boss Mick McCarthy says he’s not just targeting a striker to replace Daryl Murphy during the January transfer window but a number of “fresh faces” to “brighten the place up”.
While the long-awaited new frontman to come in for Murphy is top of McCarthy’s wish-list, he says he’ll also be looking to add to other areas of his squad.
"I’d like some fresh faces,” the Blues manager confirmed. "I’m not going to say how many because if I say a number and I don’t get them then I’m suddenly one short or I’ve got one too many.
"So I guess I would like some to come in and put pressure on players who are in the team, who are in the squad.
"It brightens the place up a bit. Some players come in and they can light it up, it changes like that. Somebody comes in and they can score on their debut, they get a winning goal and all of a sudden the place is much brighter.
"And it just creates that bit more atmosphere, fresh faces. If we can do that, create a bit of excitement, a bit of a spark, that would be nice.”
Speaking at Wednesday’s AGM McCarthy said he had handed a list of targets to owner Marcus Evans and that he has "put a few on that might cost a few quid this year, we’ll see” rather than a list of players available on free transfers.
He continued: "If we can get them, great, if we can’t we’ll try and get somebody else and if we can’t then I’ll continue with what I’ve got.”
Speaking at yesterday’s press conference he added: "I said normally I’m giving him a list of frees, but I’ve said [there are some that will cost a few quid].
"It’s almost like you’re making excuses when you say ‘It’s going to be a hard transfer window’. But that’s not an excuse, that is a matter of fact, a statement of fact.
"Getting players in is not easy and even more so given what is being paid for good Championship players this year.
"That filters its way down, wherever you are the price is going to change accordingly and there’s no doubt about that.
"And does anybody want to sell their players? We can’t get any emergency loans in, so straight away everybody wants to keep their squad. I don’t want to lose any.
"We’ve had 17 outfield players training this morning, I don’t know too many other clubs who will be operating on that over Christmas. The list is there. Can we get them? We’ll soon find out.”
Speaking on Talksport yesterday the Town boss hinted that the players he is targeting are more likely to have Championship experience.
"They have to hit the ground, so you want players who have played in the league or been in or around it,” he said.
As cited by MD Ian Milne at the AGM, the Blues have looked to get players in that they can develop in recent seasons, Adam Webster and Grant Ward having been notable examples last summer.
"We’ve been doing that me and TC for a long time, whether it’s a free transfer that comes in the building or somebody that comes in and sits in reception like Kevin Bru,” McCarthy reflected.
"We took him and I think that’s developing players as well, isn’t it? Getting them in and getting them playing.
"The two lads you’ve just mentioned have been real success stories, Grant Ward and Webbo, I think they’re the basis of a very good team, two very good young players for the future.”
McCarthy is confident that Town will be able to hold on to their most coveted players with Webster having recently been linked with Sunderland, while a report in the Daily Mail yesterday claimed Derby, Norwich, Reading, Cardiff and Wigan have all made enquiries to Leicester regarding season-long loanee Tom Lawrence.
"They’re all under contract but we’ve seen that before with players under contract,” McCarthy said.
"I’m not sat here worried about losing them, I’m sat here more concerned about getting some fresh faces in that would provide a spark and an impetus for us so we could push forward.”
Has there been any pressure on him from owner Evans to sell to bring in the sort of fees previously achieved for Aaron Cresswell and Tyrone Mings?
"Never, ever,” he added. "That’s never been the case. We’ve sold those players and Murph went, Murph’s not played for Newcastle, he’s been injured for most of his time there, but the need to sell has been resisted in the past.
"Certainly with Didzy [when Leicester offered £7 million in August 2014] and certainly with Murph [in the summer of 2015] because last year we thought we’d have a really good chance of getting in the play-offs, and of course we finished seventh. The pressure to sell has never been on me at all.”