Assistant boss Stuart Taylor says there will have to be some element of squad rotation in the months to come given the Blues’ very heavy fixture schedule.
Town have 26 games to play before the season’s end on Saturday 8th May with February, March and April all having seven scheduled League One fixtures.
The Blues already had a big squad prior to this week’s loan addition of Luke Thomas and Josh Harrop and inevitably there are going to be senior players not just on the bench but sitting in the stands in the weeks to come.
"If everybody’s fit, then you can only pick a certain number of players but the good thing is that we’ve got a heavy schedule coming up,” Taylor said.
"So, dare I say it, there will be some sort of rotation put in there in terms of the bench or starting XI or whatever the case may be. But with the heavy fixture list then certainly the bigger the squad, the better.”
This season manager Paul Lambert has tended to stick with a more settled side having last season chopped and changed on a very regular basis. Could there be a return to that approach?
"Who knows?” Taylor reflected. "Really a lot of it comes down to who comes through games and how they’re feeling, if there are any knocks, bumps or bruises or fatigue levels.
"We look at everything, we analyse everything and we go and see how people are moving in training and then make the best decision based on all those facts.”
Would it be impossible to expect anyone to play all of the remaining matches? "I personally think to go and play, I think it’s 16 games in two months, half a season from February 2nd, it’s a very tough ask for anybody to go and churn out every single minute of every single game.
"People say they’re professionals, it’s their job, but it’s easy saying that. Going into games when you’re fresh is fine but when you’re carrying a knock or a kick from the previous game then it’s tough to get through, especially at this level. The good thing is that if we can keep everybody fit, then it’s a healthier position for the club.”
Taylor says having a rare free midweek over the last few days has been very useful.
"What it’s done is let us go and work on things like we did last week going into the build-up to the game,” he said.
"You can do a little bit more work with not having the midweek game. Normally when you go Saturday-Tuesday there’s a lot of prep and recovery, and getting the coaching points across you have to do it in different ways. But when you can do it on the grass like we’ve done this week, it’s been good.”