Town boss Mick McCarthy still plans to cut short striker Kieffer Moore's loan at Rotherham and bring him back to Portman Road in January, although he says that might depend on whether the Blues receive a “bonkers deal” for the 25-year-old, who has netted 13 times in 16 League One starts and one sub appearance since joining the Millers and is currently the highest scorer in the top four English divisions.
Speaking at the weekend, Moore said he is yet to hear from McCarthy about his plans for him in January but the Blues manager says nothing should be read into that.
"He doesn’t need to hear from me directly,” he said. "When he went there I sent him a good luck message and he’s got on with it and he’s scored his goals.
"If he’d scored one and everybody was giving out to him I’d be on the phone to him saying, ‘You keep going, you’ll get your chance’, but I’m probably the last person he wants to hear from, except to know what he’s going to be doing.
"But he’ll be coming back, that’s my view and [we'll] see if he can score as many in the Championship. Unless, of course, somebody comes in and offers a bonkers deal for him.”
After Moore had made a strong start to his loan, Rotherham showed interest in signing him on a permanent basis before the transfer window shut at the end of August, while a number of other clubs, Plymouth Argyle, Port Vale, Stevenage and Partick Thistle among them, were all interested in the former Forest Green Rovers man in the summer.
"He’s doing great, that’s exactly the reason, one, why I signed him, and why I sent him out on loan, to go and get his football,” McCarthy continued.
"He wouldn’t have played here, he wouldn’t have started with Joe and Waggy and Didzy, so it looks like a good bit of management to me.”
He added: "Just let him keep playing and playing well, scoring goals and we’ll deal with it when the time comes.”
Moore, who joined the Blues from Forest Green for £20,000 in January, is contracted to Town until next summer with the club having an option to keep him for a further season.