Town boss Kieran McKenna has revealed striker George Hirst will undergo surgery on a ruptured hamstring this week and will miss most of the rest of the season.

Hirst limped off in the first half of the 1-1 draw with his former club Leicester City on Boxing Day.

“George is seeing a surgeon this week for a repair to a rupture of his hamstring, so it will be certainly the very, very back end of the season before he will be eligible,” McKenna said.

Quizzed on whether that would increase the urgency when it comes to bringing someone in in January, he said: “Not really, it doesn’t increase the urgency because he was always going to be right at the very end of the season.

“We wanted to add and we need to add quality to the squad to keep improving the squad in every window. We want to keep adding goals and goal threats in their different guises, centre-forward and other type of forward players as well. That’s one priority.

“We were going to look to do that without George’s injury and then when the striker who has been playing all the games is ruled out for the large majority of the season, that increases the importance.

“But it’s not about urgency, it’s about getting in the right player or players, who can help us for the rest of the season and maybe beyond.”

Hirst, 24, has been a key man in the Town side, scoring six times this season, since signing from the Foxes in the summer following a successful loan at the end of last season.

Photo: Matchday Images

TimmyH added 17:47 - Jan 1 What a shame...he does seem fairly injury prone sadly, he was when we bought him last season, really important to get a decent replacement in (probably a loan). Wishing him a speedy return.
7

dusth added 17:48 - Jan 1 Huge blow. Easy to see how we’ve missed him since Leicester.
9

dusth added 17:49 - Jan 1 Creates so much space for others.
5

Carberry added 17:49 - Jan 1 That's a big blow. All the prices go up now.
2

keighleyblue added 17:49 - Jan 1 (sob)
0

Churchman added 17:51 - Jan 1 Let’s hope he makes a full recovery and comes back all the stronger. I’m sure he will.
9

jas0999 added 17:52 - Jan 1 Very sad new for the lad. Hope he makes a speedy recovery.
4

Davidwb20 added 17:55 - Jan 1 Big loss for us. We really miss his presence, together with hold up play and assists. It’s been evident from the last two scoreless results. Unfortunately Ladapo not an able replacement. Let’s hope we get the right centre forward out of the January transfer window. In KMck we trust.
4

LimerickTractorBoy added 18:00 - Jan 1 A major blow. First and foremost wishing George a full recovery from what is a very serious injury. Secondly, an adequate replacement is essential if we are to stay in the mix for auto promotion. Feck.
5

Arthur_Hayes added 18:01 - Jan 1 Shiiiite!
1

Suffolkboy added 18:02 - Jan 1 No doubt ITFC have a plan A and a plan B ! COYB
2

ghostofescobar added 18:05 - Jan 1 Other than losing Morsy, Hirst is the biggest blow we could have. Integral to KMs game plan. All the best George and see you back at your best next season.
4

Gforce added 18:05 - Jan 1 Probably the only irreplaceable player in the team,a real blow for George and the team.Fingers crossed we can find a replacement or two before the Sunderland game.
2

dyersdream added 18:09 - Jan 1 New Forward in this week hopefully as Ladapo and Jackson are not up to it in this league
5

JimInGreensboro added 18:16 - Jan 1 Just awful for George. Nothing wrong with McKenna, thankfully. He'll figure it out.
3

PortmanTerrorist added 18:23 - Jan 1 No surprise, and was always a gamble for George to play as much as he has, with the intensity we play at, esp given his history. But is now so very clear to see we had no choice given our other striking options; feel for Freddie and for Jacko, as this just looks a level too high for them now. Don't agree with some comments on here as this should make want players want to come here more (which helps more than the price allegedly going up) knowing the number 9 slot is not blocked; great opportunity now for someone to come in, get plenty of game time and score plenty of goals !

2

ArnieM added 18:24 - Jan 1 Bollox!
1

Ipswichbusiness added 18:28 - Jan 1 With Dane Scarlett back at Spurs that means we are two forwards down and so need at least one to come in. I see that The Sun is claiming that both Brighton and Crystal Palace have their eyes on KMc. Apparently Brighton see him as a possible replacement if De Zerbi is poached and Palace see him as a long-term replacement for Hodgson. It is said that there is a £4 million compensation clause in his contract.

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Nomore4 added 18:32 - Jan 1 Wishing George all the very best. However nothings changed on the transfer front. We are crying out for a goal scorer. And a overall of the squad in general. Unfortunately as we’re finding out, our 1st choice 11 beats anyone in the Championship. When you start dipping into the squad in general, the deadwood is evident. After all we have no choice of improvement to what we have, with each passing window.

3

BurleysGloryDays added 18:34 - Jan 1 Big loss, superb player Hirsty
0

SickParrot added 18:46 - Jan 1 It's now vital that we sign two centre forwards that suit the way we play in this window. One who can hit the ground running and go straight into the team and one to deputize, because Ladapo and Jackson are not upto it. Hirst works so hard and creates space for our other attacking players. We need to sign players with the same attibutes and ideally who are better finishers than Hirst. That's going to be difficult! We also have no adequate deputy for Morsy so we need to find someone alot better than Ball for that role. Ideally we would also sign another full back (to replace Williams who can go back to Utd) and an experienced centre back. We would probably have to let a few senior players go (loans maybe) to accomodate this but so be it. I fear that if we don't do this our brilliant first half season may be wasted.

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Mariner1974 added 18:47 - Jan 1 Real shame as George is integral to how we play, and has been a great signing for us. We've done well with injuries first half of the season, so something had to come at some point. Just a pity it's a player who is one of the first inked into the starting XI. The only saving grace is it comes at a time we can go out and find a replacement for second half of the season in our promotion push.

1

Gforce added 18:48 - Jan 1 Ipswichbusiness......I heard KMc's release clause was 20 million.. Either way hopefully we won't need to accept it for many years to come.
2

Town1Inter0 added 18:51 - Jan 1 So, we’ll buy a replacement (or two), then have GH back for the final push, or heaven forbid, the play-offs.
0

dyersdream added 18:53 - Jan 1 We need another Marcus Stewart moment !
3

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