Leif Davis is currently the only fit left-back at the club, but the Town defender has declared he is feeling good physically after the opening three matches of the season.
The 25-year-old, who has committed his future to the Blues amid reported interest from Nottingham Forest, missed the pre-season friendly at AJ Auxerre on the eve of the season with a hip injury but started both of Town’s opening two league games and last week’s Carabao Cup clash with Bromley.
Davis came off at half-time in a pre-planned substitution in south London while he has completed the full 90 minutes in Championship draws with Birmingham City and Southampton, something the left-back knows he is required to do with limited numbers in his position.
"I’m feeling good,” he said. "I’ve completed two 90s and a 45 which I’m pleased with. I didn’t feel tired in any of the games either, which means I’ve done everything I can to be ready for the season.
"I know for a fact I can keep pushing when the season starts kicking in even more with the Saturday-Tuesday games.
"I know that’s my type of football where I can just run people into the ground Saturday and Tuesday nights. I’ve felt like I’ve started well so I’ve just got to keep driving and pushing on.”
Conor Townsend’s pre-season injury has dealt a major blow to the Blues’ depth in the left-back position, with Townsend expected to be out for the rest of the season with an ACL problem on which he has undergone successful surgery.
Davis was keen to express his disappointment at the former West Bromwich Albion man’s misfortune for both the impact he has on and off the field.
"I’m gutted for Conor,” he said. "An unbelievable person, an unbelievable player. He pushes me harder every day in training and I’m going to miss that. But it’s football, stuff like this happens and I’m absolutely gutted for Conor.
"As a person, I love him. He’s always there for me, last season if I had a bad game he would always come up to me and keep my head up and keep pushing me.
"I’ve got to be available every game I can be because I’m really the only left full-back at the minute that is fit. I know I’ve got to step up to the challenge and try and do everything I can to knock off the 90 minutes every game.”
During pre-season, Davis was often seen moving into midfield from the left-back position in a tactic that has not yet been utilised in competitive outings under Kieran McKenna.
"It was one that shocked me, to be fair,” the former Leeds United defender said of the experiment. "When I first came back for pre-season, the manager said he can probably improve me as a player.
"Playing more positions can make you a better player instead of just getting the ball on the touchline and crossing it in. Also, it helps out Jaden [Philogene] as well, who is a very good one-v-one player.
"If I’m in the middle, it leaves him one-v-one to get at the full-back. I like it in there, you get a lot of the ball, I can probably score and get on the end of more crosses in that area as well.
"That’s one thing that will take time, it doesn’t just happen overnight me getting used to that position so it will take time.”
New signings have arrived at the club this summer, with Azor Matusiwa adapting to life as a Championship midfielder having never previously played in England.
Davis stressed it will take time for new additions to settle in, but is in no doubt about the quality that some of the Blues’ acquisitions during the transfer window possess and compared the current group to the squad that were promoted two years ago.
He said: "Azor especially is a very, very good player. He even said to me he didn’t realise how quick the Championship was but he’ll soon get used to it. It will take time but 100 per cent we’ll start getting the results.
"That’s football for you, but the team we’ve got now is probably as strong as we’ve ever had. We’ve just got to stick together as a team and work together as a team.
"People come and go, that’s their choice and we wish them all the best, but the players that come in know they have to do the job to fill the role as well.
"We had good players back then but I think we’ve got better quality now. We had players that worked hard, ran hard and knew how to play with each other.
"The team two years ago was incredible but I think we’ve got that little bit more grit in the team to push on and know what we can do this year.”
On his own performance levels, Davis added: "Last year I personally didn’t think I was good enough for what I knew I could do. This year I want to get back to the level I know I can be and what I was like in the Championship the last time.
"I know what I can do in this league, I’m just pushing myself and I’m fully committed to everything I do at the club.”