Teddy Bishop faces three months on the sidelines with a knee injury, while Toto Nsiala and Jack Lankester will also miss the start of the season due to injury, the club has confirmed.
Bishop twisted his knee awkwardly during the friendly with SV Meppen at the Interwetten Cup and there were fears that the 23-year-old could have suffered a cruciate ligament injury of the type suffered last season by Freddie Sears, Grant Ward and Ben Morris, all of whom are expected to be sidelined for between nine months and a year.
However, it’s been confirmed that the midfielder suffered medial ligament damage and is facing three months out.
"Bish is wearing a brace at the moment and with the injury he has, we are looking at three months or so recovery time,” Town head physio Matt Byard told the club site.
The injury is a blow to Bishop, who had been fit for the longest period since his 2014/15 breakthrough season until Sunday. However, he may to some extent be relieved that the problem isn’t quite as severe as feared.
Nsiala, 27, will miss the first few weeks of the season having torn his hamstring in the Fortuna Dusseldorf game at the Interwetten Cup, while Lankester, 19, has suffered a recurrence of the back problem which saw him absent for the final months of last season.
"Toto tore his hamstring in the game against Fortuna on Sunday and he will certainly miss the first few weeks of the season,” Byard added.
"Jack had a stress fracture of the back over the second half of last season. He has been progressing well and played in the games in Germany but he’s had a bit of a reaction.
"It’s quite common with the type of injury Jack has had to get setbacks along the way. It’s a case of letting things settle down for now but he’s another that won’t be ready for the start of the season.”