Town boss Mick McCarthy was pleased with his team’s first-half display, despite the Blues falling to a 2-1 pre-season friendly defeat at Gillingham, and again had praise for youngster Flynn Downes who, with a number of senior midfielders injured or ill, could well be involved in the season opener at home to Birmingham City in a fortnight.
McCarthy felt the result wasn’t a fair reflection of the performance, certainly not in the first half: "Not really, that’s the beauty of pre-season friendlies, I can be slightly less bothered.
"If we’d played like that in the first half and lost that game, I’d be chewing. I’m still not happy, I’d have preferred to have got something from it.
"We’re trying to play more and certainly on the floor and I thought we did that in the first half, I thought we were excellent.
"There were some good blocks, some good saves, maybe a couple of misses that we shouldn’t have had. I was really pleased with the first half performances.
"The second half was going nowhere, we were gave a penalty away and it just changes it. Maybe we start to get tired, we don’t move the ball as quickly, we didn’t get many chances.
"They, from being 1-0 up, sat back in their half, we’re trying to pass it and they just try to nick us on the break. But the second goal was a wonder goal, good enough to win any game, in any league in any country.
"I was delighted Danny Rowe scored because he needs that just for his own confidence.”
Downes, 18, again caught the eye in midfield having signed a new three-year deal earlier in the week.
"You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or anybody clever or smart [to see why],” McCarthy enthused.
"He came back to pre-season and he was as fit as anybody and I said to [owner] Marcus [Evans], ‘Sign him up, get him on a long-term deal’. He’ll play in the first team, no question.”
In the early stages of the season? "We’ll see, I’ve got injured and sick midfield players. If he gets in the team, there’ll be a few worrying, because he’ll be hard to dislodge.”
While Downes may not be well-known to fans, McCarthy says he’s been around the first-team squad for a while.
"He’s not come from left field, he trained with us last year, as did Tristan Nydam,” he added. "Tristan’s not really had the run yet but I think he’ll impress everybody as well. He’s played on the left and he’s played at left-back and every time he comes in and he does well.
"Downesy, we knew what a good player he was, but he’s come back and he’s just even more so than he was. Every time he joined in training with us he was great, he just went in and nailed people and looked like one of the squad.
"He passes it forward, he’s not negative, he’s not just going backwards and square. He nicks it, he tackles people, he’s an all-round central midfield player for me, and he’s only going to get better.
"There’s been nobody better than him in pre-season. But it’s not Birmingham on Saturday 5th. But if I had to or wanted to play him, I’d have no worries about it and he would perform just the same for me.”
Downes’s chances of making his senior debut are increased by the number of other central midfielders who are currently sidelined due to illness or injury, including Emyr Huws.
"Calf/achilles and I don’t want to risk him to any sort of an injury,” the Blues boss continued. "Tom Adeyemi’s been poorly for about 10 days, Skusey’s just got that as well. Luke Hyam with his knee and Bish with his groin.”
Is he concerned the likes of Huws and Adeyemi in particular might not be ready for the start of the season? "Yes I am, Tom not having played, we’re only two weeks to the start, and Emyr is probably struggling. But I’d have no worries at all playing Flynn Downes. Skusey will be all right, Skusey’s poorly.
Andre Dozzell was also among those not to make the trip to Gillingham but the 18-year-old, who helped the England U19s to win the European Championships last week, could play at Colchester on Tuesday.
"He’s had a summer of success with the England team, but he’s had a hip injury,” McCarthy said. "But he’ll be all right, he might be available for Tuesday night.”
McCarthy says there have been no developments regarding new players coming in: "No news at all, not just yet.”
Similarly he had nothing to add on any interest in his players from other clubs: "I don’t know, I genuinely don’t know because I haven’t had any calls from anyone.”
At Drogheda McCarthy confirmed that Kevin Bru would be allowed to move on if another club came in for him but says the Mauritius international is currently required at Portman Road.
"He was up until I had five midfield players injured!” he laughed. "It’s just as well he’s come back, and fair play to Kevin he’s come back in good shape and he’s everything he’s done he’s played well.”
He says he’ll talk to Aldershot manager Gary Waddock regarding 18-year-old Pat Webber, who came on as a 63rd minute sub as the Shots drew 2-2 at home to Wycombe Wanderers this afternoon, his third game for the Vanarama National League side.
"He’s had two games, he’s having his third today, we’ll see,” McCarthy added. "I’ll be speaking to Gary Waddock, he’s not sure [whether he wants to take him on loan] yet. We all want more experience and players who have played in that league.
"He’s having a look at him and it’s good experience for Pat whether he ends up there or not.”
Looking ahead to Tuesday at Colchester (KO 7.30pm), McCarthy says many of the senior players who didn’t start today will be in the XI which begins the game at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.
"That’s the idea, pretty much,” he said. "I’ll have a look at it, it might not be exactly that, that they start, but certainly Webbo [Adam Webster] will, Dominic [Iorfa] will at centre-half, not at right-back.
"Didzy will start. Having played 60 minutes on Tuesday night, having only just come back, it wasn’t prudent to start him today. Most of them will be starting on Tuesday night.”