Blues boss Kieran McKenna was pleased with young midfield duo Cameron Humphreys and Fin Barbrook, despite Town’s on-penalties Carabao Cup first round defeat at Bromley.

McKenna’s side were beaten 5-4 in the shootout by the League Two club following a 1-1 draw.

Humphreys, 21, was making his first start for the Blues since the FA Cup tie with Maidstone in January 2024, while Barbrook, 20, was making his competitive debut for the Blues having come through the academy.

“They did well, they continued how they’ve been all summer, really,” McKenna said. “They did well in pre-season, Fin especially probably stepping up for his first regular spell with the first team and in a position with a lot of responsibility where we’re really short at the moment, and he’s taken his chances well.

“And Cameron, we know what to expect, but still for a young player, he still continues to impose himself well.”

Could Humphreys play a big part in the season ahead? “He can. I’ve got full belief in him that when the opportunities are there, he’ll be ready to take them. He did well in the few minutes he got on the pitch on Friday night [at Birmingham].

“At the same time, to be the dominant team in the division, or one of the dominant teams in the division, then we need to have really good depth and strength in that position, so we need to be in a position by the end of August where there’s fierce competition and really good depth in every slot.

“Hopefully, midfield will be no different to that and Cameron will be there to fight for his minutes, like every other player.”

Reflecting on half-time when he was forced to give his teamtalk in the car park due to problems with the Hayes Lane plumbing, McKenna said: “I think there was an issue in the dressing room with sewage or something like that, so we weren’t able to go in the dressing room, so we had to congregate outside by the bus.

“It is what it is, an unusual situation, but it didn’t have any impact on the game. Just a bit of a strange one.”

Regarding Azor Matusiwa, who was missing from the squad having made his debut for the club at Birmingham, McKenna said: “He had some tightness in his groin from Friday night, so not available.”

New signings Chuba Akpom and Jens Cajuste aren’t fit enough to be involved yet due to their lack of pre-seasons, while Omari Hutchinson made himself unavailable as he has made it clear he wants a move back to the Premier League, with Brentford and Nottingham Forest having had offers rebuffed, while Nathan Broadhead, a Wrexham target, called in sick.

Young central defender Elkan Baggott was left out so as not to hamper a potential loan move.

“Elkan, just with the situation that there’s a possibility that he’ll go on loan this year,” McKenna explained. “That’s not for certain and he’s an important member of the group until that point.

“But we wanted to give Leif [Davis] some more minutes tonight with the fact that he’s had a really, really broken pre-season, so we always planned to give him 45 minutes and we had some other good cover in the position.

“There’s a cup-tied situation with Elkan and there’s also the two-club rule across the season that sometimes can come back to bite you if a player plays a few minutes in the first round of the Carabao Cup and then, if he should happen to go on loan, that can limit what’s possible in the second half of the season.

“We made a decision alongside Elkan that, as we had the cover tonight in those areas, it was better to let him keep training and we’ll see what the situation is over the next couple of weeks.”

Photo: Matchday Images

armchaircritic59 added 00:36 - Aug 13 I'm always interested when people talk about " young " players. I'm most certainly not making ability comparisons here, but for instance, Lamine Yamal has only just turned 18, and has already made over 100 appearances for Barcelona alone and several more for Spain, and he's hardly a powerhouse in terms of build. At this rate he'll have made something approaching 400 for Barcelona when he hits 20! Is it just possible we overplay the " young " description. For me if you're good enough at whatever level you're playing at, age doesn't come into it. Whether 16, or 40! Just to say someone is still young and lacks experience etc, doesn't really cut it.

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PhuketPete added 04:24 - Aug 13 If you’re too young at 21 it definitely supports my view that it’s insane to five the vote to 16 and 17 yo’s
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Murphys_Law added 06:39 - Aug 13 I think they both deserve some credit for their performance last night. We’re more used to Cam doing his work effectively but Fin looks like he has a real bite to him, accepts the ball well in tight areas and his awareness means his distribution choices are consistently good. We’ve got a couple of gems here and I’m looking forward to seeing more of them both.
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JewellintheTown added 06:55 - Aug 13 Sensible & level headed response from KM. Managing fires & situations not of his making & having to adapt to situations like team talks in car parks, players sulking, injuries, cup tying players etc will do his career experience well. I fully expect to read this chapter with interest in his memoirs. Not an ideal situation for Aston & KM to deal with, but let's take fan pressure of his back & support him & players through this. He mentions "group" a lot, & group was what got us where we are & made us fans expectations so high now. Remember where we came from & the people that got us here. KM isn't out of depth, or a poor manager. We have a manager other teams would die for, players who chose us over fame & money, young players doing us proud, 40 year olds playing like they are much younger. The dawn will break, players will come & go & settle, McKenna & Ashton will continue to work their magic & some of the fans will be upset because they no longer have any drama to get attention from.

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slade1 added 07:08 - Aug 13 Cameron Humphreys and Fin Barbrook can hold their heads up high, both had very decent games and looked good, Ashley Young was Premier league class, and it showed. Some of the others put in a shift too, especially Ben Johnson, but certainly not all of them. Jack Clarke, just flatters to deceive every game. Runs a lot, dribbles a lot but no end product. Ali Al-Hamadi, as much as I like him and his effort, sadly he is just not up to Championship football. Leif Davis, good player, but always worries me when leaving his left back position vacant allowing the opposition to attack after bombing up the pitch. George Hurst, people rave about him, why? In my opinion he's a decent player but not that brilliant.

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SpiritOfJohn added 07:14 - Aug 13 I can't help thinking that if we had paid upwards of £5 million for a player of Humphrey's abilities he would be one of the first names on the team sheet.
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BlueRuin69 added 08:13 - Aug 13 So good we lost......
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Wickets added 08:30 - Aug 13 I suppose there can be young in age and also young in terms of experience.
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poet added 08:43 - Aug 13 Just because a player coming into the squad who is young, doesn’t necessarily mean he is going to be good enough. Yes he’ll have energy, but there’s more needed than just raw energy. For a young player to play first team football in the Premier League, or the Championship, he has to be more than just full of energy. When you first see a really talented young player display his skills on the pitch, it becomes immediately evident that he’s something special. Those players are very few and far between. The last one I saw in that class at Ipswich, was Kieran Dyer. When he made his debut, anyone who knew anything about football knew that he was going to be a star. Putting young players in the team up against seasoned opposition, isn’t always the answer. Nine times out of ten, they’ll struggle, and in turn, that dents their confidence. The majority fall by the wayside, the minority who are special cases, like Dyer, Beckham or Rooney for example, set the benchmark for others to follow, sadly many just aren’t good enough to reach it.

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philpott2 added 09:13 - Aug 13 A response to Poet's comment and seeing a special talent, i.e. Kieran Dyer. Some of you may remember a number of years back Town u18 played Southampton in a two legged end of season final....Ed Upson was 15 and scored for us, to win it, and he had a decent career but not with us. Best player on the pitch was on the Southampton side, and looked very good indeed. One Theo Walcott, also 15, whilst Gareth Bale had his moments as well. 2005 it was!

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philpott2 added 09:17 - Aug 13 Oh...and Adam Lallana also featured for Saint's !!
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PortmanTerrorist added 10:42 - Aug 13 Both did fine in their own way. Cam was solid and progressive, but increasingly I do not think he is a CM and wonder if he would have been a better option to start at full back last night where we need cover...either side. As for Fin, having seen how he has played last season, he was either nervous or told to keep things simple. He is better than what we saw and at some point he either needs to be taken off the leash and/or given greater license to see if he can cope. In both cases, have seen nothing which makes me think they actually improve our team, when they are both at an age where they should be playing 1st team football. As such, maybe keep Cam for his versatility, and either commit to Fin or let him go...for his own career's sake.

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blues1 added 15:02 - Aug 13 Slade1. So Clarke has no end product, and yet he was very much involved in the 2 big chances we created in the 1st half. Running at the opposition, tgen releasing the ball at the perfect time and pace, to leif, to put across the box. Could he do more? Probably. But hes not being played in his best position, as an out and out winger.
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Bazza8564 added 18:39 - Aug 13 "so we need to be in a position by the end of August" = Hackney or AN Other will be here! Not convinced we need 6 for two roles but I won't complain if we do, we've had far too many competing for 3 supporting striker roles and nowhere near enough investment in CMF
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armchaircritic59 added 19:44 - Aug 13 Jewellinthetown ( clever name! ), somewhat more of a level headed and thoughtful post than many at the moment. I think with all the headaches going on at the moment, it might take a few games to get up to speed, maybe as many as 6. If, as it seems these days, you need 90+ points to be in the automatic promotion shake up, then after 6 games we'd need to be looking at about 12 points to be on course. Of course any side going on a run at this time of the season, can go from one end of the table to the other. My biggest concern is this, and of course I'm very much hoping it doesn't happen, but a defeat on Sunday could see things turning rather more toxic than they are already, notably in here! Clearly two absolute musts are another central midfielder of some quality, and another striker. If GH does unfortunately get injured agaln, we'd be down to one, not a gamble I'd want to take. One of two things in football that has bugged me for many years, is the insistence of some managers in playing players out of position. If they are genuinely equally as good in more than one, fine. But square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round ones please, If I need a shirt I don't buy a pair of trousers! It's pretty evident where Chuba Akpom's most effective position is, let's see what happens.

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