Boss Mick McCarthy has revealed that he’s looking to let midfielder Anthony Wordsworth out on loan now that he’s signed Stephen Hunt on a short-term play-to-be-paid deal.

Hunt, who made his debut as a late sub at Blackpool, joined up with the Blues on Friday, having previously been at the club training earlier in the season.

McCarthy says the reason he wasn’t snapped up then wasn’t to do with money: “Everybody wants to know if it’s a budget issue but it’s not.

"It was because I’d got Tunners playing on the left, Tabby on the left, I’ve got Ando on the right and Carlos on the right. I’ve got four strikers and four wide midfielders, I just didn’t need another one.

“I might let Woody go out on loan, if I can. He needs games. And if I do that Hunty can play on the left and Tabby can play on the inside. I’ll wait and see what happens.”

He added that something is in process regarding getting Wordsworth sorted with a temporary club, the £100,000 January signing from Colchester having been very much a fringe player this season, making only two brief sub appearances and often being left out of the matchday 18.

Hunt previously played under McCarthy at Wolves, the Blues boss signed him from Hull for a reported £3 million in June 2010, and he joked that he hasn’t been able to get rid of him since: “He’s like a bad penny Hunty!

"He came and trained with us and I said ‘Now Hunty, piss off, you can’t stay, we can’t sign anybody else!’. It wasn’t like that but it makes a good story.

"He thought he was coming to Blackpool. I said ‘Good lad, all the best’, then he went to Millwall.

“It was funny [on Friday night] night because you have to sing on your first day here. And he stood up and his singing was awful but his stories were great: ‘What an awful six months I’ve had, I’ve had good deals, turned them down, some bad deals and now I’ve got a s--t deal but I’m here!’.

“He’s here and he’s such a good character, he’s great. For somebody to come from Ireland on Friday morning and join in training and then go on the pitch and play the way he did is a good story.”

McCarthy says that despite Hunt rarely, if ever, having played at left-back he “wasn’t worried about him at all” during Saturday’s game.

He feels the 32-year-old is a good player to have in a dressing room: “Hunty deserves to be at a football club. There’s something about him, he has a great character about him, other people bounce off him. I felt for him actually.

“I have to say he’s come in and if he plays he gets paid. He’s had a great attitude towards it. Maybe he might stay with us and maybe he’ll do well enough that he’ll get somewhere else.”

He believes Hunt’s willingness to join the club despite only being paid when he plays matches says a lot about him: “That’s testimony to him, he just wants to come and play. A great attitude.”

Photo: Action Images

BlueMachines added 06:21 - Nov 11 It appears to have got Taylor back in the frame to play so let's hope it works for Wordy too!
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sotd78 added 06:52 - Nov 11 The mans nickname is Woody
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Keaneish added 07:23 - Nov 11 Fair enough. I know who'd i rather have starting for us. Looking forward to Leicester in two weeks.
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bluemingood added 08:37 - Nov 11 I went crosseyed reading that.
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pegasus added 08:38 - Nov 11 Woody's good start for Town was scuppered by that nasty back injury. Regular games on loan will help him and Ipswich. He's a shrewd, steady player, good to have on the books.
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Marshalls_Mullet added 09:04 - Nov 11 Is piss really a more acceptable word than sh*t?
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Jimmy86 added 09:26 - Nov 11 This does seem a but weird for me, just purely down to the fact mick signed woody after a slightly protracted transfer, so he was obv keen to bring him to the football club. Hunt on a pay as you play short time deal is brilliant, coz if he likes us and we like him it can be made more perm in the january window. The loan worked out for taylor, so hopefully this would be the same situation. Hope to see more of woody tho

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essextractorboy93 added 09:31 - Nov 11 Wordsworth needs to get a few games so hopefully he will get that in League One and then come back for the Christmas fixtures where the whole squad will need to be used. The injury last year held him back but generally looks like a good player.
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Tractorog added 09:31 - Nov 11 Doesn't it strike anyone else as an odd thing to do to bring in a player who has not played for 6 months in order to let a player who has not played for 6 months go out on loan to get match fitness? If i were Woody I'd be thinking the manager does not rate me and likes playing his old cliquey mates. Don't get me wrong I normally like Mick's no nonsense approach - but this feels like nonsense.

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cromwellblue added 10:39 - Nov 11 We don't see training so it's hard for us to judge. I suspect that Wordsworth will move on come January
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Jimmy86 added 10:56 - Nov 11 Cromwellblue thats a very true point about training but i for one would be disappointed if mick moves woody on. He signed him so obv deemed him good enough to play for the club. Scouted him accordingly so knew what he was getting
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Cheshire_Blue added 11:00 - Nov 11 The enthusiasm shown by Hunt on the pitch on Saturday and the encouragement he was showing to the team will make him a good acquisition. Wordsworth is our player and needs to get back to the form he showed last season. He will not get the games he needs immediately with us so what better way to achieve this than a spell on loan.
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BlueMachines added 11:34 - Nov 11 @ Tractorog I agree but the only difference is one is injury prone and the other isn't. Maybe that makes the difference??
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John_Portman added 11:58 - Nov 11 @Tractorog i also agree but i think Woody lacks confidence and maybe he needs to prove himself. Hunt is proven, experienced and of course is a great character - apparently confident as well. Sounds fair enough to let Woody go out on loan and come back to try and challenge, just till January when a decision is made on Hunts contract. Up the town.
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WhoisJimmyJuan added 12:33 - Nov 11 It does seem odd on the face of it, but I agree with Cromwellblue. We don't know. Perhaps the question is, was Hunt signed to allow Woody to go out on loan and get form and fitness, or is Woody to go out on loan to allow Town to go for Hunt? I.e. is Hunt or Woody MM's long-term plan?
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CalneBlue added 12:38 - Nov 11 Can anyone explain to me why Hunt was brought on vs Blackpool as a left back (where apparently he's rarely played before) when we had a perfectly good full back Hewitt on the bench too? Square pegs and all that ...
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BlueMachines added 13:31 - Nov 11 CalneBlue Hunt is left footed and Hewitt is right footed perhaps??
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theobald1985 added 13:32 - Nov 11 Tractorog is absolutely spot on. how can hunt be fitter than wordsworth. woody is a good player who should be in the side or at least on the bench.
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kalypso added 14:33 - Nov 11 12th in the table. and we're perservering with a one in one out system? good luck Wordy
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craigyboy10 added 15:14 - Nov 11 I can see what people are saying, but just because he is going out on loan doesn't mean mick don't rate him, mick knows what woody can do, hence why he signed him in the first place, but obviously at the moment he's struggling to get in the team, micks always been fair tbh! He knows at the moment he can't give him At a start maybe due to lack of match fitness since his injury, hyam and skuse have done well in midfield for the way mick wants them, it's not to everyone's cup of tea but for micks way they have done well, maybe if this new system comes into play alot more woody will feature more? Maybe that's why he's sending him out on loan?

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Lightningboy added 15:55 - Nov 11 Disappointing that Wordsworth hasn't featured more,he looks like the attacking midfielder we've been lacking..hopefully he'll come back with a few games/goals under his belt and get himself back in the team. Skuse & Hyam are solid enough when we're away from home but we're badly lacking goals from the entire midfield..Mick needs to let them off the leash a little,especially at home..maybe we should be looking at 1 holding player in the home matches with Tunners & Wordy pushing forward.

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blueboy1981 added 18:25 - Nov 11 ..... Hunty, Tabby, Woody, Tunners, Cressy, Tayls etc; - sounds more like a Cats Home than a Football Club.
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jas0999 added 19:17 - Nov 11 We haven't really seen enough of Wordsworth to comment. However, Colchester fans claim he is very inconsistent and injury prone. A loan move may do him good.
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mikeybloo88 added 20:28 - Nov 11 Blueboy1981, not just cats, don't forget Didsy and Murphs, the 2 cocker spaniels up front - Mick isn't exactly the most imaginative when it comes to players nicknames lol
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TimmyH added 20:53 - Nov 11 I thought Wordsworth was ok against Hull but as said the back injury hasn't done him any favours, do we know if he's going on a one month loan or 3 month deal?
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