Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy has refuted any suggestion he has sent his side out to play ‘with the shackles on’.

East Anglian Daily Times: Ipswich Manager Mick McCarthy on his way back to the dressing rooms at Brentford Picture PagepixIpswich Manager Mick McCarthy on his way back to the dressing rooms at Brentford Picture Pagepix (Image: Pagepix Ltd 07976 935738)

McCarthy, who will leave Portman Road when his contract expires this summer, has been criticised for his style of play by sections of the club’s support but insists his players have the freedom to express themselves when they have the ball.

When asked whether his side could enjoy any added freedom during the final five games of the campaign, given they are neither going up or down this season, McCarthy replied: “There’s a bit of a misconception about having the shackles on.

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“I don’t put the shackles on them. We put the shackles on the opposition, but when we have the ball we have the freedom to play and it’s a complete piece of nonsense that anybody should suggest any other way.

“Stopping the opposition is one thing but, if you’ve ever seen my teams, we’ve played 4-4-2 and, when we’re attacking, we leave two centre backs and one central midfielder.

“That means we’re attacking with seven players with both wing backs in the box, so I’m going to refute that suggestion because it’s a piece of nonsense.”

Ahead of tomorrow night’s game with Barnsley at Portman Road, McCarthy was also asked if he regrets not being able to play with two out-and-out wide players more regularly than he has done during his time at the club.

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In recent seasons McCarthy has had to rely on loan players such as Bersant Celina, Tom Lawrence and Ryan Fraser in wide positions, but the Blues boss looks at two players who made a combined 79 appearances during the 2014/15 play-off season as among the most successful.

“I’ve tried and, strangely enough, two of the more successful ones have been Tabby (Jay Tabb) and Ando (Paul Anderson) who were terrific,” he said.

“They weren’t flying wingers but they were able to tuck in and still do the wide job while making it hard for teams playing 4-3-3 to play through us.

“Tom Lawrence was a hit, Ryan Fraser was a real hit and Santi (Celina) has got his eight goals so we’ve had a bit of success with them.”