Town boss Kieran McKenna says he’s hopeful that keeper Christian Walton will stay at Portman Road, his parent club Brighton having activated a recall clause in his loan deal earlier in the week which could see him return to the Amex Stadium after Saturday’s game at Bolton Wanderers.
Walton has been on a season-long loan with the Blues but with the Seagulls keen to cash in on him in the January window with his contract up in the summer.
The loan deal included a clause allowing the Sussex club to recall the 26-year-old with seven days’ notice, something they triggered on Monday.
Asked how Walton’s mindset has been given those circumstances and whether he is confident Saturday won’t be the keeper’s last game for the Blues, McKenna said: "Christian’s been great, I can only go off how I’ve seen him in training and obviously the game last week as well.
"I’ve had a couple of conversations with him, as has [goalkeeper-coach] Rene [Gilmartin] and I know the club are continuing conversations with him. I’ll keep the details private obviously, but I know Christian loves being here, wants to be here, he’s enjoying being here.
"I know the club are working really hard behind the scenes. Obviously there’s a recall clause in there, which has been publicised, so I know the club are working hard to see if there’s anything that they can do to keep him to the end of the season because that’s what I think is a really good outcome for all parties.”
If Walton does move on, the Blues will still have two first-team keepers in Vaclav Hladky and Tomas Holy.
"We have three senior goalkeepers at the moment,” McKenna continued. "Vac played against Wycombe and did well and kept a clean sheet.
"Obviously, it wasn’t easy to leave him out of Gillingham away because he came in and kept a clean sheet and you can’t do any better than as a goalkeeper from a statistical point of view.
"He’s been training well and I think he’s grown in confidence from the Wycombe game as well, having that good performance and that clean sheet in front of a big crowd. That was a big moment for him, so he’s in a good place and we know that he’s ready.
"Tomas, I haven’t seen play any matches yet under myself, but again he is an experienced goalkeeper who has been here a good amount of time.
"He’s been training hard, so we have a strong department and Rene is doing a really good job with the goalkeepers at the moment. They are all training well, they are all in a good place, and we feel like we’re in a good position in that department.”
Given that he would have Hladky and Holy available, would he be in a hurry to add another keeper should he lose Walton?
"That’s something, as I said before, we’re working really hard on and Christian going is something we don’t want to happen,” he said. "We are really hopeful that he can stay here and that something can be done.
"It’s the work of the club behind that to make sure that we have good cover in all positions, that we know what’s out there, that we know who is available.
"Especially in this month, we need to be very alert, we need to be ahead of the game, we need to foresee the different eventualities that might happen, and that’s something that we’re doing in the goalkeeping department and making sure that there are various options and possibilities for whatever might happen.”