Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy was quite happy to sit back and watch his rival managers splashing the cash this summer.

Championship clubs spent in excess of £100m on transfer fees in the last window, but McCarthy – as has been the case throughout his three years at Portman Road – was limited largely to freebies and loans.

Of his current squad, only Jonas Knudsen (£250k), Freddie Sears (£100k) and Piotr Malarczyk (£8.5k) have cost money.

And yet his team sit fourth in the table ahead of tonight’s match at Reading (8pm, Sky Sports), the Royals having reportedly paid out £2m just to loan striker Matej Vydra from Watford on deadline day.

“Whether there’s any truth in that I have no idea, but normally there’s an element of truth to it,” said the Blues boss.

“Sheffield Wednesday were meant to be bidding, what, 10 million for (Ross) McCormack? Fulham have just bought Stears (Richard Stearman) from Wolves for two million quid. Those are just the deals that I can think of off the top of my head.

“I looked around and thought what a chunk of money was being spent in this division, but then there is a huge amount that is at stake when you consider the riches that the Premier League brings these days.

“That doesn’t faze me at all though – I think we’ve got a good a squad as any of them in the league and I’m confident with our players.”

He added: “I’ve had (Financial Fair Play) explained to me a number of times and I’m still not sure I know any more about it. I’m waiting to see who gets fined, who gets sanctioned.

“I hear that some clubs are only allowed to sign someone if they limit the wages to 12 grand a week. That’s a hardship isn’t it?

“I haven’t seen anyone get fined yet and it remains to be seen if that happens. I’m interested by it, because there’s been a lot of noise made about it, but it doesn’t bother me. I’m happy with my squad and the business we’ve done.”