Ipswich Town caretaker boss Bryan Klug has revealed Gerard Nash and Chris Hogg will assist him between now and the end of the season.
The duo have led the Blues’ Under 23s this season and step up following the departure of Mick McCarthy last night, as Klug takes charge for the final four games of the campaign.
Both are former centre-halves, with Nash making one appearance for the Blues before his career was cruelly ended by injury, while Hogg never made a senior Ipswich appearance but did play more than 150 games for Hibernian.
Klug, Town’s head of coaching and player development, believes it is important to give as many opportunities as possible in the final weeks of the season.
“I think this is a great opportunity, a learning opportunity for all of us,” he said.
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“Some of the senior players, obviously, I’ve spoken to them this morning, but from the academy staff I think we have some really good young coaches so I would like to think we’re not just developing players but we’re developing coaches as well. That has been a big part of my role over the last two years.
“I’ll have Gerard Nash and Chris Hogg, who have done a great job with the Under 23s this year, they’ve had a fine season. I think it will be a great opportunity for them to learn how tough it is in the Championship so they will be getting just as involved as they were with the Under 23s.
“Obviously the staff Mick had, for me, are very important – Lids (Andy Liddell) on the sport science side and Mally (Malcolm Webster) as the goalkeeping coach. I don’t think we need to make any changes there.
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“I think we’ll change a few things on the training field and things like that but overall we just want to have a situation in the next month where everybody gets something out of it. Everybody can feel coming into work that it’s worth it and they can get something out of it.”
Injured captain Luke Chambers, who is likely to miss the rest of the season with broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and a fractured sternum, is also likely to play and important role now Klug is in charge.
“He’s massively important and he does want to. In that dressing room and the players in there, my role hasn’t been really close to them so Chambo certainly knows all those players and knows how to get the most out of them,” Klug said.
“He is a good captain and he wants to get some experience because his intention is to be a coach and a manager and I’m more than happy to help him with that.”
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