Blues manager Mick McCarthy believes striker Freddie Sears's two goals during Tuesday’s 3-0 home victory over Wigan Athletic will have given him a huge boost of confidence.
Those goals took the 27-year-old’s total for the season to only five having gone on a run of 38 matches without finding the net between his 16th-second goal in last season’s trip to Fulham, a 2-1 Town win, and the 2-0 home victory against Burton in October.
"I would imagine it’ll give him a huge amount of confidence,” McCarthy said. "Strikers, it doesn’t matter what else they do in games, they want to score goals, that’s what they thrive on.
"I think it’s been remarkable how he’s kept going and how selfless he is in the way he plays. It’s lovely when he scores his goals because he gets the credit for it then.”
McCarthy believes strikers can sometimes benefit from being given a rest, as Sears was prior to netting against Leeds in February.
"They’ll never admit it but in any position, if it’s been tough for you, you never, ever want to be left out, you never want to be dropped,” the Blues boss continued.
"But sometimes you can be trying and trying and it’s not working and I think you have to come out of it and suddenly stand back and have a look and see what’s going on.
"Tom and Didz were playing well, but I needed Freddie in the team to stretch teams, he’s different to the other two.”
He added: "It’s the hardest part of the game is finishing it, putting the ball in the back of the net, which is why they pay vast amounts for them.
"The ones that score on a regular basis, 15 to 20 goals, they are the ones who are coveted by everybody.
"Freddie looked like being that but there have been times when he’s had unbelievable bad luck and he just keeps going. Let’s hope this’ll set him on another goalscoring spree.
"Freddie’s so unassuming, so low maintenance. He comes in bright and cheery every morning, shakes my hand, says ‘Hello gaffer’ and I might not speak to him again until he’s on the training ground. He goes, does his work. He’s a great kid.”
McCarthy says up front in a two-man attack is Sears’s best role, despite having utilised him in wide positions for much of his time at Town.
"That’s his best position, without a doubt,” he said. "Whenever we’ve played 4-4-2 he’s pretty much started up there.
"There was a time early in the season when I only had a couple of strikers and he played wide left. He had his chances from there and when we played 4-3-3 he’s played on the left. But that’s his best position, I know that, without any doubt.”