MICK McCarthy admits he made a mistake in releasing striker Jason Scotland.
The Blues boss decided that the 34-year-old wasn’t part of his long-term plans for the club back in January and subsequently reached a financial agreement to cut short the final few months of his contract.
Championship rivals Barnsley quickly snapped him up on a free transfer, with the Trinidadian proving a devastating weapon off the bench.
So far, he’s scored five goals in little more than 300 minutes of league action for the Tykes. That’s two more than the entire Town team have managed between them over the last eight matches.
The Tykes would leapfrog 19th-place Town should they win their game in hand, with McCarthy’s men currently four points above the relegation zone with eight matches remaining.
Asked if he regretted letting Scotland go, McCarthy said sarcastically: “No, I just thought I’d let him go to my hometown team, score a few goals and get them out the bottom three so we could both stay up.
“Listen, of course I regret the fact he’s ended up at Barnsley. It looks like a mistake doesn’t it because he’s scored four goals. Five is it? Well it’s an even bigger mistake then isn’t it!
“Did he look like he was going to do it here? It wasn’t evident to me or anyone else here, but fair play to him. He’s been given a new lease of life and good luck to him and good luck to them.
“There was no animosity whatsoever when he went. It looks like a mistake, it looks like a daft move, but I can’t do anything about it now – it’s happened. There is no point beating myself up over it.”
McCarthy signed three strikers in the January transfer window, with David McGoldrick (2), Aaron Mclean (1) and Frank Nouble (0) scoring three goals between them so far.
SCOTLAND’S BARNSLEY LEAGUE RECORD
Millwall (H) 2-0, 66th minute sub – 1 goal
Blackpool (A) 2-1, 66th min sub – 1 goal
Middlesbrough (A) 3-2, 63rd min sub – 1 goal
Wolves (H) 2-1, 64th min sub – 0 goals
Bristol City (A) 3-5, 56th min sub – 1 goal
Bolton (H) 2-3, 67th min sub – 0 goals
Burnley (A) 1-1, 55th min sub – 0 goals
Brighton (H) 2-1, start (off after 58 mins) – 1 goal
Watford (H) 1-0, start (off at half-time) – 0 goals