Mick defends his summer spending

Mick McCarthy has defended his summer tranfer spending after growing criticism of players such as Kelvin Davis and Jon Stead, and revealed his thought on the fact that no new money will be made available to him for January strengthening.

The gaffer told Sky Sports, "I've heard it said I should've made three expensive signings instead of bringing in 12 overall. But at Portsmouth I only had 14 fit outfield players - so God knows what I'd have done if I'd listened to them.

The announcement of the club's annual results earlier this week included confirmation that Mick will get no additional funds for squad strengthening in the January transfer, but McCarthy said he'd expected as much.

"My heart rate didn't go up when I heard there'd be no more money to spend, because I wasn't expecting any. We'll just do what we can with what we've got. I've done well in the past with limited resources - why not again?"

And he confirmed that selling players wasn't on the agenda for January, despite some supporters' worries that players such as Arca and Whitehead may be prised away.

"Selling players is not something I'm thinking about."