Blues boss Paul Lambert has outlined why Jordan Graham, who was part of his squad at both Aston Villa and Wolves, is not in his plans at Town. The 23-year-old is currently training with Oxford United with a view to joining them when the transfer window opens with his season-long loan at Portman Road set to be cut short.
Graham, who previously had a short stint with Town in 2013/14, rejoined the club on loan from Wolves in August and made three starts and one sub appearance without scoring under Paul Hurst but did not feature under Lambert.
"I can only come in see with my own eyes what I think is right and what I think is wrong and I think we’ve a squad where there’s a lot of players, young ones as well, who I think are going to make an impact sooner rather than later,” Lambert said.
"I just go with my own eye. No ill feeling towards anybody, I’ll pick what I think is right and I’ll always do that.”
It’s been well-documented that Lambert disciplined Graham for off-field misdemeanours when they previously worked together but the Blues boss appeared to play down those incidents.
"Jordan was only a young kid when I was Aston Villa when I was there and he was out injured a lot at Wolves,” he recalled.
"He came back in the last few weeks but never a problem. I just pick a team that I think can win games and a group that I think I can mould the way I want to mould them.”
He confirmed that the spell is all but certain to be ended earlier when the window opens but with the Blues still paying a proportion of his wages in the meantime.
"Yes, likely so because we’ve a lot of players here,” he said. "We’ve got young players here who are coming through and they’ve got to have a chance to progress as well.”
Among those young players is 18-year-old Jack Lankester, who has clearly caught his new manager’s eye.
"As I’ve said before, Jack’s got an incredible touch for the football, he’s a terrific way of playing,” he enthused.
"He’s only a kid but he’s one young one that I think, ‘Yeah, you could have a massive career’.
"We have to nurture him and give him game time when we think, ‘Go on now and let’s see what you can do’."