That’s the way we’ve done our squad’ – McKenna on Woolfenden and selection decisions

The Blues welcomed back Wes Burns and George Hirst for Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion, while Nathan Broadhead and Harry Clarke are also nearing full fitness.

It means that Town should soon have 27 players available to play – but only 20 can be named in a Premier League matchday squad.

Summer signing Dara O’Shea started against Brighton (Image: Ross Halls)The likes of Cameron Burgess, Jack Taylor and Ali Al-Hamadi were all left out against the Seagulls, as was Luke Woolfenden, who started all three Premier League games before being dropped for Dara O’Shea against the Seagulls.

“Luke’s done well across the three games,” McKenna said after the stalemate. “He’s another one adapting to the Premier League and he’s an important player for us.

“We wanted to get Dara going. It’s really hard to integrate when you arrive late, especially as a defender, until you get into the team and really feel your team-mates, the competitiveness of a game and show your qualities. It was important to get him going.

Luke Woolfenden didn’t make the squad at Brighton having started the first three Premier League games (Image: Ross Halls)“That’s the way we’ve done our squad anyway. When we have everyone available, it’s pretty typical for us not to put centre-halves on the bench.

“We like to have four forwards fresh and ready to come on, two midfielders and two defenders.

“There’ll be games where we have a centre-half on the bench but there’ll be plenty of games where we don’t and we use the versatility of other players who can fill in slots in the back line.”