Town boss Paul Lambert has confirmed that midfielder Teddy Bishop will be out for a number of weeks with the ankle injury he suffered against Shrewsbury, while Freddie Sears, who picked up a hamstring problem against Hull on Tuesday, Jon Nolan, Gwion Edwards and James Wilson won't be back to face Charlton at Portman Road on Saturday.
Sears limped off in the first half of the 3-0 defeat to the Tigers and it’s anticipated that the striker will be sidelined for around a fortnight.
"He’s got a strain in his hamstring, which will probably keep him out for a couple of weeks,” Lambert said. "I need to speak to the medical team, I just found out yesterday afternoon. We need to see how Freddie is and hopefully it’s not too bad.”
Asked whether Bishop, Edwards (hamstring) or Nolan (groin) might be back on Saturday or would they stand more of a chance for the Oxford or Plymouth games, Lambert said: "I don’t think those guys will be back, certainly not Bish anyway. Nolo, I’m not so sure, and Gwion’s doing OK. I wouldn’t visualise many of them coming back.”
Regarding Bishop, he added: "It’s funny because I spoke to him the other day, obviously his ankle was really swollen. We were just chatting and he was saying it’s the best he’s felt in five years, which is an incredible thing. He’s doing alright, but he’s going to be out for a number of weeks.
Quizzed on whether Bishop will be back before Christmas, Lambert said: "I’m not sure. It’s going to be a few weeks anyway, I don’t know the longevity of it, but it’s going to be a few weeks.”
Centre-half James Wilson has been out with a knee injury which Lambert says is making progress.
"He’s got a problem with his knee,” he said. "He hurt it in training, it was a slight twist actually, and he’s nicked his cartilage a little bit. I think he’s okay, he’s doing okay, and it’s settling down, but he’s still struggling with it.”
Asked about the impact of the injuries, Lambert said: "Listen, when you look at the whole midfield, it’s virtually wiped out. The only one we’ve got back is Andre [Dozzell, after his three-match ban] and everybody else is out.
"So that in itself — your midfield is your engine room. But the guys have given us everything, they’ve given me absolutely everything in their bodies, and whoever plays tomorrow I’m sure they’ll do the exact same.”
Regarding Dozzell’s return, he added: "As I said before he takes that risky pass. Brett McGavin has done really well in there with it, but Andre is a little bit more advanced than him.
"But Brett has done well. But Andre, as I said before, he takes that risk and I think now he’s starting to perform how people at this football club and area thought he could perform, it’s just taken him a few years to find his feet and now he’s starting to play.”
James Norwood made only his second league start of the season against Hull, is the striker OK to be in the XI again on Saturday? "He was excellent. I’ll see how he is this morning, but I thought his performance was really, really good. Hopefully, he’s okay this morning, but yesterday he felt okay.”
While the likes of Kane Vincent-Young (achilles), Cole Skuse and Flynn Downes (both knee) are still not ready to make their returns and Tristan Nydam (ankle) and Ben Morris (knee) remain long-term absentees, Lambert now has all four of his strikers back with Aaron Drinan having joined Kayden Jackson and Oli Hawkins on the bench on Tuesday.
"Aaron is a wee bit because he’s not done anything,” Lambert said. "Oli’s done little bits and Kayden the same.
"Those three guys, the four of those guys are probably not up to 100 per cent match speed because every one of them has been out at certain times.
"Every one of them was out at the same time not that long ago against Accrington. But they are getting there and it’s a really unprecedented situation because nobody knows.
"Six months out without playing any football is a long time, but the guys are trying everything they can to stay fit.”