Blues boss Kieran McKenna has revealed he has had loan interest in Cameron Humphreys and says he is continuing to assess whether to send the young midfielder and centre-half Elkan Baggott out before the end of the transfer window.
Humphreys, 19, came on as a sub in Tuesday’s 2-0 Carabao Cup victory over Bristol Rovers having become a regular in the first-team squad last season.
McKenna was asked whether there is a dilemma with the academy product, on the one hand keeping him at Portman Road to be a squad member, and one who doesn’t count towards the 25-man limit given his youth, or to send him out on loan to play more regularly.
"He’s another player where you take all things into consideration,” McKenna said. "We think Cameron’s a super player and he’s going to get much better.
"We think he’s got a future at the club and we like having him in the squad, not because he doesn’t count to the numbers but because I think he’s a terrific player. I’ve absolutely no doubts about putting him into any game against any opponent.
"He’s here, he’s training well, he’s another young player who we think develops really well in this group, he improves and has improved with training, he improves with being around and competing against our senior players on a daily basis and it’s a long season, and we know he’s ready to play and will play over the course of the season.
"On the other hand, of course, games are important and you do get some other elements to your development from playing week in, week out, which isn’t impossible for him to do here this season, but there’s stiff competition.
"We’ll assess the situation ongoing until the end of the window. For now, he’s a very, very important member of the squad, he’s training really well, he’s ready to play.
"We’ve had some interest to take him on loan but with Cameron it’s definitely going to have to be the case of the right club and we wouldn’t hand over his development loosely because he’s a very important player to us.
"But we’re communicating continually with Cameron and we’ll do what’s right for the football club but our young assets, who are important parts of the football club, we’ll also find the balance of trying to do what’s right for them individually to help them become a really big player here some day, hopefully.”
McKenna says the Blues are similarly still considering whether centre-half Elkan Baggott might spend the season out on loan or at Portman Road, the Indonesian international having impressed against the Pirates in midweek and throughout pre-season.
"I think he has improved since the start of pre-season, to be honest,” McKenna said. "I’ve spoken to Elkan about that.
"I think he improves every day being with this group. He improves from being within the dressing room and our players, he improves from our training, he has improved over the course of our pre-season friendlies and he improves from the coaching input he gets within our staff here on the training pitch and around the building.
"So I think he has improved a lot in the last seven weeks, which bodes well and is why he is still in the building at this point and why we still have decisions to make around the next steps.
"The good thing is that he is developing, he’s a good learner and he takes on information really well.
"He had a different role the other night, he had to defend much more man-to-man against Jevani Brown than what we typically would do, but it was something we wanted to work on and add to our tactical options as a team.
"I thought he did that role very well, I have to say, as it’s not easy and again from every pre-season game, through to Austria, through to that game, he has shown improvement and showed in the right environment what a good learner he can be.”
Following the form he has shown in both pre-season and the Carabao Cup, McKenna revealed that he would be confident in giving Baggott his Championship debut, if needed.
He said: "He has done well for us when he has gone in previously and he has shown over the course of pre-season that he contributes.
"Everyone who is training with the group at the moment, I have the confidence they could play or else they wouldn’t still be here at this point.
"But beyond that, it is about making the right decision for us and the right decision for Elkan around how many minutes he is possibly going to get and for us to have good covering competition in the squad and for him continuing to improve.
"We are continuing to have those conversations over the next few weeks. Of course, we still have a few weeks.
"At the moment, his focus has just been on the first couple of games and Bristol Rovers being the big one. We will speak again before the end of the window and do what we think is right for all parties.”
We understand Stevenage are among a number of League One clubs to have shown interest in Baggott.