Blues boss Mick McCarthy says 17-year-old midfielder Andre Dozzell would have played more of a role in the first team this season had Town had a better campaign.
England U18 international Dozzell made a dramatic goalscoring debut aged only 16 - just as his father Jason had done 32 years beforehand - as a sub at Sheffield Wednesday last April but has made only six starts - two in cups - and two appearances from the bench during 2016/17.
"If the team had been better, it might have been better for him,” McCarthy reflected. "I don’t think we were doing him any favours and consequently he wasn’t doing us any favours.
"It would have been great if the team had been playing really well and he could have fitted in and he hadn’t been needed to do so much, I guess, but we weren’t playing that well. Dozzer then is going to struggle in a team like that, as would any youngster coming in.
"When Bish came in we had a more settled team, we hadn’t got injuries, he played in a really strong team that had played week in, week out.
"When he got in it was Chambo, Tommy, Bez, Mings, Skusey, Ando, Tabby, Murph and Didz. He came in and it was that team almost every single week, pretty much nailed on.
"And anybody who came in came into a strong team which was playing well and unfortunately for Dozzer that’s not been the case.”
Is it harder to blood young players in the Championship than even the top flight these days? "Somebody told me it’s 21 when lads are getting debuts in the Premier League.
"I think we can give them [debuts] earlier. Dozzer got in and scored and he had a bit of a cameo appearance in a second half [the 2-1 victory over Bristol City] when he came on and he was terrific.
"No, I just think we’ve needed to be better to be more solid, to be more secure to accommodate him.
"We needed to be better to help him. He wasn’t going to come in and help the team while we were playing as we were.”
He says no pressure has been put on him to get young players in the squad, despite the academy’s stated aim of increasing the number of graduates in the first team.
"I haven’t had any pressure from above on any subject at all, getting players in the team or anything,” he added. "I can put enough pressure on myself without anybody else doing it.
"No, if I can get them in the team I’ll get them in the team but it was a big ask. He came in, he scored on his debut, it was all wonderful, history rewriting itself.”
McCarthy says Dozzell could be a major talent for the Blues going forward: "He could be, and Kundai’s gone out and played [on loan at Aldershot] and he’s doing well.
"I think Flynn Downes and Tristan Nydam are doing well and I’d love to be in a position where I could play them and not be worried about the result. At the moment that’s not the case.”
Regarding Teddy Bishop, McCarthy says the 20-year-old has endured another frustrating season.
"He’s been injured,” he said. "He’s got back a couple of times and then got injured again. He’s had a terrible season through injury.
"And he’s just about clear of it now. He had 90 minutes in the U23s [on Monday when he scored in the 2-1 win at Millwall].
"I think that was his second full game, so it’s nice to see him back and it would lovely to have him back fully fit. But I can’t organise his fitness. He’s just got to get over his injuries.
"And it’s been terrible for him, I feel really sorry for him because he’s such a talented player, as he’s proven when he’s been fully fit and he’s played.
"We could say the same with Jonny Williams as well, he’s another one who is such a talent but has had so many injuries it’s just not given me a chance to play them.”
Meanwhile, striker Ben Morris’s loan at Woking has come to an end, the 17-year-old England U18 international having made only one sub appearance for the Cards without scoring.