Will Those Internationals Hurt Town?

A small squad and the accumulation of a number of injuries threatened to knock the wheels off the Town tractor and then, just as we went into overdrive again, the international break arrived!

Now I know that Mick McCarthy is happy with it because it gives him the chance to work with his new loan incumbents and help the players, who are nearing fitness, to find their footballing feet once more and this is all very encouraging.

All very well I hear you say but I do wonder what kind of impact this enforced break might have on our players?

The manager has said that they deserve to put their feet up for a few days and relax which of course is very understandable given the length of this very long league season. It is vital however that the squad are disciplined and don’t let a few days away from the training ground engender a mood of lethargy.

Perhaps I am being overly concerned about this because the last time Mick the Man told his players to take a few days off due to international engagements it was in November and we came back firing on all cylinders.

We began with an excellent 2-2 draw at Bournemouth and then that fabulous away win at Charlton, in which Noel Hunt grabbed all the points for the blues with that last gasp winner!

Taking time out does not always spell danger but it is rather frustrating that the internationals have coincided with our best set of results for some time.

Admittedly against Bolton we were lucky to take all three but no one would deny how well we played at leaders Watford and what a wonderful victory that turned out to be!

I am quite sure though that Mick McCarthy will have made it abundantly clear to all his squad that they can do what they want in their spare time, as long as they come back fighting fit.

On Good Friday we take on new leaders Bournemouth at Portman Road and if we were to win we would be right back in the promotion mix and even those distant automatic places would no longer be completely out of our sights.

The return of Jonny Williams is a hug boost though and Zeki Fryers should be able to fill the void left by the absence of Tyrone Mings. The game is live on Sky again so we can only hope that our key players come back unscathed and that we can continue where we left off!




Frank Weston – Vital Ipswich