Ipswich Town have announced the double signing of Irish duo Sean St Ledger and Noel Hunt.
St Ledger, who has been without a club since leaving Leicester City in the summer, joins the Tractor Boys on a short term deal until late December, while Hunt joins on a one month loan deal from cash-strapped Leeds United.
Manager Mick McCarthy, whose side are currently fourth in the Championship, welcomed the pair to the club and speculated as to why Hunt hasn’t featured for Leeds since the start of the campaign.
“Part of the reason might be that someone announced he was on 25 grand a week,” McCarthy said.
“Apparently he can’t walk down the street in Leeds because they turn on him. That’s not helping at all.
“He wasn’t actually anyway, he was on 24,950! I’m joking, he’s nowhere near that. I think it was the new owner who said that before the takeover and it’s had a really detrimental effect on his career at Leeds.”
Hunt’s move to Portman Road sees him reunited with his brother Stephen, McCarthy said: “Yes, the Hunt sisters are back together! (they played together at Reading).
“They’ve been getting pelters today the pair of them.
“I asked him ‘are you as bonkers as your brother?’ He said ‘I don’t know’. I said ‘well if you’re as mad as Hunty we’ll love you because we love him’.”
St Ledger has been a free agent since he was released by Leicester City in the summer after their promotion to the Premier League and will offer reinforcement to a threadbare Ipswich defence.
McCarthy said: “Sean St Ledger played nearly every game when (Giovanni) Trapattoni was Republic of Ireland manager. If that’s not a ringing endorsement of a defender, from an Italian, then I don’t know what is.
“Maybe a bit like Hunty (Stephen Hunt) last year he found himself in a position where he was promised things, turned things down and, coming up to Christmas, he found himself without a job.
“I think he did have an injury last year that kept him out for a long time, but he played on Monday night (for Town’s Under-21s), he looked fit and he’ll play again for the 21s at Millwall tomorrow because I think he needs another game. Then he’ll be ready to go.
“We’ve been operating with only six defenders all season so it was important to get some extra cover heading into a busy period.”
Hunt will be in the squad for Ipswich’s trip to The Valley to face Charlton on Saturday.
