Paul Lambert has insisted it would be unfair to burden his younger players with the responsibility of turning Ipswich Town’s season around.
The Blues head to Blackpool today sitting ninth in the League One table, three points outside the top six with 11 games to go, following a run which has seen them win just four of their last 22 matches in all competitions.
The absence of James Norwood (injury) and Kayden Jackson (three-game ban) could potentially open the door for the likes of Armando Dobra and Ben Morris to force their way into contention, but Lambert is wary of placing two much pressure on their shoulders.
"What I don't want to do with the young players is heap the pressure on them and rely on them to grasp the nettle," the Town boss said.
"It's different if we were a team full of experienced guys but we've got a lot of young ones as well.
"When I was breaking in (at St Mirren) I had a lot of experienced guys to help me, but if Dobs, Ben Morris or Tommy Hughes, who have all been doing great, come in then they have young guys to help them too. Flynn, Bish, they're all young guys.
"Do I have a problem with playing the young guys, like Dobra? No because I've done it, but I don't want to say 'you're playing and you're the one who's going to catapult us up the league' because that's unfair.
"You can sometimes have the fearlessness of youth, without a doubt, so it's one you judge. I don't have a problem with Dobra because I think his mentality is really strong with it.
"With the other kids, most play without fear because of the way they are here."
On Morris, who has yet to feature under Lambert given he was on loan at Forest Green following his appointment before suffering a knee ligament injury at the start of 2019, the Town boss said.
"Ben's had a long time out. The kids have had some bad injuries as well, some horrific ones here.
"Somebody's misfortune is somebody's gain but that's football and that's how it works. I know what I see when I've seen them train with us, where they've done really well."
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