Boss Mick McCarthy says the Blues' young players should treat Tuesday’s Carabao Cup second round tie away against Premier League Crystal Palace as an opportunity to break into his thoughts for future first-team games, the Town manager having confirmed that he’ll field an entirely changed XI at Selhurst Park (KO 7.30pm).
"I’ve said to them, and I told the first-team players, they’ve been brilliant and I want to make sure they’re all ready to play on Saturday,” McCarthy said.
"And they are all feeling it, by the way, they’ve all got tight hamstrings and things. The last thing I need is any more injuries.
"But I said to the [young] players, you can take it two ways, ‘The gaffer’s not bothered about this game’ or ‘It’s a wonderful opportunity’.
"And I am bothered about it, I don’t want to go there and get beaten. And if we ultimately do get beaten, it’s always nice if somebody shines in it and we get a player where I think, ‘Wow, that’s good, I can use that’ and he can be a first-team squad player and somebody progresses through from it. There’s an opportunity for somebody.”
McCarthy says the side which starts against the Eagles will "certainly” be the youngest he has ever fielded in his 25 years as a manager, but he insists he’s only doing it out of necessity.
"I’m not doing it to take the Mick, I’m not doing it for any other reason than it’s essential to do it,” he said.
"If anybody’s bought the tickets, come and watch the game and cheer the young ‘uns on because you never know we might just see a performance from them and get somebody out if it that’s important for us going forward.
"Everybody knows, I don’t want them turning up and thinking, ‘He’s thrown the towel in’, because I haven’t. I can’t afford to get any more injuries.”
Among those starting are almost certain to be Flynn Downes, 18, and Tristan Nydam, 17, who have broken into the first team this season.
McCarthy says their impact could prove to be an inspiration for the club’s other young players and in some cases may have supplied a kick up the backside.
"They’ve been brilliant those two,” the Blues boss reflected. "I know Flynn’s just been in and spoken to the media and I said to him that he’ll have to get used to that because he’ll be talking a lot.
"Adam McDonnell’s really done well this season because he was nowhere near the team last year and I think it had an effect, bearing in mind he’d played against Derby on the final day the year before.
"He’s come back and he’s looked different again and I think he’s been inspired and threatened and a bit annoyed that other people have come and taken his slot. Those two lads have been great, great for the squad.”
McCarthy says the game will play a role in their youngsters' development, even if it ends in defeat.
"If, heaven forbid, we do get beaten and we don’t play well and they get a knock-back, that’s a test. But we’ve all had them,” he said.
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"Every one of us has had those tests and the best players, those who end up being footballers, who end up having a career in the game generally come back from them because it’s not all sweetness and light every week, it’s not all roses and chocolates.
"It’s far from it, it’s disappointment, you have to travel back, you get back in here and we come in on a Sunday and they have to come back in and face it and get their game head on again.
"We’ve all had our disappointments but you’ve just got to keep going, the games come thick and fast.
"But hopefully it doesn’t have that effect and it has a more inspiring effect for anybody that plays.”
The youngsters could come up against some names more familiar to them from Match of the Day at Selhurst Park with Palace having lost their first two Premier League games, a 3-0 home defeat to newly-promoted Huddersfield followed by a 1-0 loss at Liverpool on Saturday.
"Depending on what team they play,” McCarthy continued. "[New Eagles manager Frank de Boer] might hear my press conference and change it completely, I don’t know.
"Or he might want to play his strongest and have a really good win and give them some confidence. That won’t work if they get beaten though, will it?
"Joking apart, they need a result, they’ve not had a good start and we’re all proud of what we do and take pride in making sure that the team plays well and wins games and certainly he’ll be doing exactly the same, he’ll be wanting to start their season off.”
He added: "They’ll be desperate for a result, they can’t afford for us to go and beat them.
"They might think that if they get beaten [by our youngsters] there’ll be pressure on them even more as they’re not playing against what would be recognised as the first-team squad.
"If we can go there and relax and play, who knows, we might go there and cause an upset.”
But McCarthy admits it will be a big ask with the strength in depth at Premier League level these days.
"I did take a teamsheet out with us on to the training field, I just put them in the shape of the team to play against our lads, but I didn’t mention all the names, I thought it might not do us any favours,” the Town boss admitted.
"They’ve got plenty of players and I’m not dismissing this, I still want to win, but not at the risk of getting players injured or suspended to miss the game on Saturday.”
One player who may face the young Blues is ex-loanee Jonny Williams, who McCarthy says is due some good fortune after his injury problems in recent seasons.
"He does need a change of luck, he’s a very endearing character, has that smile on his face all the time, and that’s difficult when he’s been injured as often as he was when he was with us,” he said.
"And it wasn’t little, niggly injuries, he got clattered on a number of occasions and I think the injury he got at the start of last season when he came back from the Euros was a bad tackle in a meaningless pre-season friendly, so he’s been very unlucky.
"He’s just the loveliest kid, I’ve got so much time for him, I love him to bits and I’m looking forward to seeing him tomorrow.”
Regarding the likely battle between the Wales international and Downes and Nydam, he added: "There’ll be no holds barred there with those boys, that’s for sure.”
McCarthy has confirmed that Dean Gerken will be in goal and will skipper his side at Selhurst Park.
Defensively, the Town boss will pick four from 18-year-old Luke Woolfenden, who made his debut as a sub at Luton, Pat Webber, 18, George Fowler and Chris Smith, both 19, all of whom would be making their senior debuts, while Nydam could be used at left-back.
Fowler seems likely to be at right-back, with Woolfenden and Webber - who alternatively could be at left-back - or Smith the centre-halves.
Danny Rowe, 25, will probably be on the right with Downes and McDonnell, 20, in the centre. McCarthy has confirmed that Bersant Celina, 20, will start and the on-loan Manchester City man could be on the left.
New Zealand international Monty Patterson, 20, or former Irish U18 international Shane McLoughlin, also 20, could start in the number 10 role with McCarthy confirming that they’re in his thoughts for involvement at some stage: "They’ve done all right in that U23s squad. They’ll be delighted if they get an opportunity tomorrow, that’s for sure.”
Either Ben Morris or Ben Folami, both 18, seem likely to start up front in the lone striker’s role.
Alternatively, McCarthy may look to field Celina behind the main striker with Conor McKendry on the left.
The final few spaces on the bench are likely to be filled by some of the second-year scholars who were in action with the U23s at Burnley today.
Town will be looking to win their opening six competitive games at the start of a season for the first time since their inaugural campaign as a professional club, 1936/37, when they were victorious in their first four Southern League matches and two FA Cup ties.
Palace, who appointed their former striker and manager Dougie Freedman as their new sporting director earlier today, will be without defender Jairo Riedewald due to a groin injury and winger Wilfried Zaha is not yet back from a knee problem.
Ex-Blues frontman Connor Wickham is still out with the knee injury which ended his 2016/17, while Bakary Sako and Pape Souare are also currently sidelined.
Midfielders Yohan Cabaye and James McArthur could come into the reckoning with de Boer also expected to name a much-changed team.
Historically, Town have the edge on Palace, winning 32 games between the sides (30 in the league), losing 26 (26) and drawing 24 (24).
The teams last met in the Championship at Portman Road in April 2013 when the Blues won 3-0.
Frank Nouble scored twice and Aaron Cresswell the Town goal of that season, all the goals coming late in the first half.
Earlier that season the Eagles had beaten Town 5-0 at Selhurst Park in recently-appointed Blues boss McCarthy’s second game in charge, his first defeat having taken over at Portman Road at the end of the previous week.
Yannick Bolasie had put the home side ahead at half-time before an extraordinary 11 minutes early in the second half in which Palace were awarded three penalties, Murray scoring two and having one saved.
The Eagles striker later added his third and the Eagles' fourth before sub Andre Moritz made it five in injury time.
The sides have met once before in the League Cup back in 1996 when the Blues won 4-1 with Alex Mathie and Paul Mason both scoring twice. Carl Veart netted for the visitors.
Four current Palace players have featured for the Blues. Damien Delaney was at Town between July 2009 and August 2012, making 102 starts and four sub appearances, scoring three times.
Williams has had four spells on loan at Portman Road during the last four seasons, making 11 starts and 12 sub appearances, scoring two goals.
Andros Townsend had four months on loan with the Blues between August and December 2010, making 14 starts and two sub appearances, scoring once. Townsend was red-carded in his second appearance for the Blues, a 2-1 win at Palace.
Currently sidelined striker Wickham came through the Town academy and made his senior debut as a 16-year-old in April 2009. He went on to make 37 starts and 35 sub appearances for the Blues before departing for Sunderland for £8.1 million in July 2011.
The draw for the third round of the Carabao Cup will take place in Beijing, China on Thursday at 11.15am local time, which is 4.15am BST, a move which is not proving popular.
Tuesday’s referee is Andy Davies from Hampshire, who has shown 12 yellow cards and no red in three games so far this season.
Davies’s most recent Town match was the 3-0 loss at Nottingham Forest on the final day of last season in which he booked Christophe Berra and Josh Emmanuel.
Prior to that, he was in charge of the 3-0 home victory over Wigan in April, in which he booked Myles Kenlock, Grant Ward, Toumani Diagouraga and two Latics.
He also refereed the 2-0 defeat at Huddersfield in January in which he booked Berra, Bru, Tom Lawrence, Jonathan Douglas, Paul Digby and no home players.
Davies has only taken charge of two other Town matches, both of which ended goalless and both of which saw the opposition reduced to 10 men.
He officiated in the 0-0 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion in September last year, in which he showed eight yellow cards, two of them and then a red to Seagulls midfielder Dale Stephens. Skipper Luke Chambers, Emmanuel, Douglas and Lawrence were the Town players cautioned.
Prior to that, he took control of the 0-0 home draw with Huddersfield in October 2015 when he red-carded Terriers striker James Vaughan for a second bookable offence in the final minute.
Squad from: Gerken, Crowe, Fowler, Webber, Woolfenden, C Smith, Nydam, Downes, McDonnell, Rowe, Celina, McKendry, Patterson, McLoughlin, Morris, Folami, Marshall, McGavin, Ndaba, Lankester, Cahill.