Blues boss Kieran McKenna felt Wednesday’s 3-1 victory over Millwall was a step forward for centre-half Axel Tuanzebe.
The 26-year-old made his second league start for Town against the Lions having joined the club shortly after the transfer window closed after leaving Manchester United at the end of last season following an injury hit couple of years.
Tuanzebe joined the Blues still feeling the effects of a back injury and was given plenty of time to get up to speed before making his debut for the club in the Carabao Cup tie against Fulham, then a sub appearance against Birmingham in the Championship before his league bow at Rotherham.
"I think the other night was a good step forward for him,” McKenna said. "I think there's been progression in every game that he's had really on the pitch, so the other night was good progress, but also lots of areas to improve and I think that's exciting.
"He's been excellent since he came here. I knew he would be, but he's been excellent in terms of his way around the building. He’s very mature for his age, he's very focused, he's a good professional and he's been training really well.
"We had always planned and agreed with him that it would be an easy build from a games point of view and then beyond that there's a process to understanding how we play and what his role would look like on and off the ball, and there's been a lot of work going on in that.
"And as much as he's had some top experiences in his career, he also hasn't played a lot of games now in quite a few years, so, very much like all the players, he's still someone very much learning his game and how he can be effective and how he can improve. It's been enjoyable to have him around.
"We've tried to manage him well. He's up to a good level now and had a couple of starts, and I think each start's been a little bit better.
"We'll have to make a decision on Saturday whether it's too soon for him to go again and we'll do that with the medium and the longer term in our mind, not just the short term.
"But he's a really good player to have in the squad. We’re in a really strong position now, we've got Luke [Woolfenden] and Cameron [Burgess], who have played most of the games this season, I think have been playing really, really well.
George Edmundson has done excellent in general when he's had his opportunities, and Elkan Baggott has done excellent when he's had his opportunities.
"So we're in rude health in that position and it's great to have Axel getting up towards full speed now as well.”