Blues manager Kieran McKenna says Harry Clarke and Ali Al-Hamadi’s loans to Sheffield United and Stoke City respectively are good opportunities for players he believes still have a future at the club.
Clarke moved to the Blades earlier in the week, spurning interest from the Steel City rivals Sheffield Wednesday, while Al-Hamadi made his move to the Potters last Friday.
"They are good opportunities for them,” McKenna said. "They're players who've done well here and players who still have a future at the club.
"But we always try and find the right balance between making sure that we have enough cover and enough competition in the squad without having too much and also letting players progress in their careers, both for themselves and their ambitions but also for a football club to keep developing our assets as well.
"We feel like the right opportunity for both of those two boys is to go out and play. They’re both still young and, of course, we'll keep in contact with them and keep a good eye on them and hopefully they'll have a good second half of the seasons in the Championship.”
George Edmundson’s permanent switch to Middlesbrough was confirmed last Saturday and McKenna reiterated his praise for the centre-half.
"A very, very popular player, did some great work in the community as well with the disability aspect of the Ipswich Town Foundation and a very good person, very well liked by his teammates and had a big contribution on the pitch,” he added.
"He had some injuries as well over the couple of years but when fit he was always an important player.
"Had runs of playing in the team and doing very well, and even when he wasn't playing every week was always ready to step in with some big performances. No more so than at the very end [of last season] against Coventry. So again, goes with our best wishes.”