Town boss Mick McCarthy says he doesn’t blame striker Freddie Sears for saying that he might consider looking to move elsewhere to play more regularly in the summer. The 28-year-old, who McCarthy says changed the game when he came on at Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday, has made only 11 first team starts this season in addition to 19 appearances from the bench and is without a goal in 33 games stretching back to the end of the last campaign.
"I don’t blame him,” McCarthy said when asked about the former West Ham and Colchester man’s comments to the media yesterday.
"I think he’s got a year to run on his contract [with an option for a further year] and I guess he would be thinking that but he also knows that had he scored 15 goals by this stage he wouldn’t be sitting in this chair telling you that, he’d be sitting in the chair saying the gaffer’s going to give me a new contract.
"But he hasn’t and that’s the nuts and bolts of it, I’m afraid. And yet he’s so selfless and so willing.
"I spoke to him yesterday as much to say ‘thank you’ and ‘well done’ and ‘keep going’ and I just don’t want anybody to think I take them for granted because I don’t, and he’s a really valuable member of the squad. But I fully understand his comments.
"You’d be asking me if I’d had any offers for him [if he had scored 15 goals], that’s what you’d be asking me.”
Is there an argument that he might have scored those goals if he’d played in his preferred role down the middle rather than out wide as has often been the case?
"Well, my counter-argument would be Santie’s scored eight, Waggy’s scored how many playing wide right, playing in the hole,” McCarthy parried.
"Joe’s scored them, Callum Connolly’s scored how many, so nobody ever would come to me with that argument, and neither would Freddie because he’s had his chances wherever he’s played, whether he’s played up front, played wide right, wide left.
"And sometimes it just doesn’t happen for him but it certainly with again for him. And I love him to bits, Freddie, he’s terrific.”
McCarthy was thoroughly impressed with the Hornchurch-born striker’s performance in the 2-1 win at Hillsborough: "He changed the game for us on Tuesday night, definitely.
"He didn’t even get the assist [for the first goal] and quite clearly the first bit of it was [down to him] but Callum gets it for heading it back.
"He was a constant pest, he really was a threat. Muzzy’s different, he dropped in and he can pick it up and run with the ball, but Freddie was a real threat the other night.”