Town boss Mick McCarthy has revealed that winger Danny Rowe will be joining League Two Lincoln City on loan for the second half of the season when the January transfer window opens.
Rowe, 25, has found it tough to break into the first team squad this season and has made only one Championship sub appearance in addition to a further game from the bench and his only start of the campaign in the Carabao Cup.
In total, Rowe, who is contracted to Town until the summer of 2020 with the club having an option for a further season, has made three starts and four sub appearances for the Blues having been signed from Macclesfield Town in January of this year.
"Danny’s going to Lincoln,” McCarthy said. "It’s a good move for him, they’ve got a chance of getting promoted. He met Danny Cowley yesterday and he explained to him what he wants from him and where he wants him to play.
"And that will we great, it’ll be good for us because I still think Danny’s got something to offer, but he needs to play in a league side and if he has a really good second half of the season with Lincoln then that may push him further into the picture for us next season.”
McCarthy says the move is not down to any link forged between the clubs during the two FA Cup ties they played out last season, the then-non-league side emerging the winners in the replay at Sincil Bank.
Cowley was recently among those watching the Town U23s defeat Aston Villa in the Premier League Cup last month in which Rowe played the first 80 minutes.
"Danny Cowley rang me up and said he was interested in him and to be fair to them they were the ones that were in first, were straight about it and I said, ‘Make your offer, what you want to do’ and they did it,” McCarthy added.
"There have been other clubs interested but they were right at the very start and I think it’s a good move for him.
"I think he would like to have played in League One but I said, ‘Danny, you’ve just got to play, you’ve got to play games and you might help them get them get promoted to League One’, which would be great on his CV if he does that and it would be great for him in relation to playing here.”
As previously reported, McCarthy has already agreed a deal to sign striker Aaron Drinan from Waterford in January and plans to recall another frontman, Kieffer Moore, from Rotherham once the window opens.
Asked whether he has put anything in place regarding any other signings, he said: "I’m putting things in place for getting players back fit for January which would make a huge difference to us.
"Didzy’s back now but if Teddy Bishop was fit and Tom Adeyemi was fit then that would make a huge difference.
"Tommy Smith is in the squad for tomorrow, he might be on the bench. Just having players back would make a huge difference to us.
"And if I get players back fit I’m hardly likely to be going out and making wholesale changes to a squad which is pretty good and doing well.
"I’m not going to put a number on it, we’ll have a look and see what we need and if there’s something that fits, we might be able to do it.”