Manager Kieran McKenna says it’s unlikely that striker Kayden Jackson will play again before the end of the league season but says the 28-year-old, who is out of contract in the summer, is a player he sees as being part of the future of the club, while a decision will be made on whether skipper Sam Morsy is fit enough to face Oxford on Saturday will be made tomorrow.
Jackson suffered a hamstring injury just before half-time in last week’s 0-0 home draw with Portsmouth and the problem is every bit as bad as McKenna had feared after the game.
"Kayden unfortunately, as we thought after the game, quite a significant hamstring injury, so he’s had his scan this week and is going to be out for a significant amount of time,” he said.
"Unlikely at this stage that he will play too much football before the end of the season. It’ll be very tight to be back certainly in time for any of the league games that we have remaining.
"Disappointed for him, a big loss for the group as well but he’s been a credit to himself how he’s applied himself over the last few months, he’s done a really good job for the team and now we have other people waiting in the wings who are ready to play and looking to play and excited to play, so we have good options in that position.”
Jackson’s Town career had appeared to be over until McKenna took over as boss but the former Accrington man has turned things around dramatically since then.
"The main thing is that he’s a really strong character, he’s been through some significant ups and downs already in his career and in his time here,” the Blues boss continued.
"I’ve had some conversations with him and knowing the type of personality he is, he’ll look to come back stronger, he’ll look to work on things off the pitch and especially in the gym when he’s not able to play and train with the group.
"He’ll look to get himself back in really good condition. He’s a boy who looks after himself really, really well anyway from a physical point of view, but there are always things that you can do in this sort of time period that can develop other areas whenever you’re injured and I know he’s going to look to do that.
"He’s certainly been relatively positive during the week and is looking forward to the future.”
Asked whether there had been any conversations about a new contract with Jackson’s current terms up in the summer, McKenna said: "I’ve not been involved in any form of conversations yet.
"From quite early on from seeing how well he trained and how he went about his business, I’ve had private conversations with him where I’ve expressed that I can see him being part of the future here and part of the type of squad and type of team that we’re trying to build.
"But I think there’s been no formal announcement yet from the club and I know that the club will continue to look at that.
"We haven’t had anything formally yet in terms of decisions on renewing or leaving at the end of the season, that process will still continue over the next few weeks and Kayden will be part of that but he’s certainly a player I see having a part to play in where we want to take the team over the next couple of years.”
Regarding captain Morsy, who has been forced off by a hamstring problem in both Town’s last two games, McKenna added: "Sam Morsy has had a scan, the situation isn’t very different to how it was going into last week, no significant damage but obviously he’s had a little issue there that needs constant management.
"He hasn’t trained with the group as of yet this week. He’s been back on the grass for the first time today and is hoping to play some part in tomorrow’s session and is really keen to be involved in the game as a leader as he is for the team, but we have to make the right decision.
"We’ll see how he goes tomorrow in training and we’ll make a decision that is right, that is the best thing for the team and the best thing for Sam as well.”
Regarding midfielder Lee Evans, who has had a knee problem, the Northern Irishman added: "Lee’s back on the grass but not with the team yet, back with the fitness and rehab coaches. We’re hoping that he’ll be able to get involved in some team training next week.”
Winger Kyle Edwards remains sidelined with his quad injury: "Still a significant period away. He’s part of a group that we’ve been unfortunate with lately, a really innocuous injury that’s going to take some significant time to heal.
"He’s working hard here behind the scenes with the medical team and starting to progress his gym work, but he’s still a significant way off even being on the pitch for real base level work. Unfortunately we won’s see him for quite a while yet.”
Better news is that 20-year-old striker Tyreece Simpson is over the knock which he picked up recently and with Jackson out moves up the pecking order.
"He’s back training, he’s trained with us just over the last couple of days, so he’s now fit and available,”
"Obviously when you lose a player your percentage chances go up. We obviously still have three senior strikers on the books who are available and wanting to compete for the minutes, but as I’ve said all along, Tyreece is a part of the club and it’s up to him to show in training and show on every opportunity he gets at the training ground here that he’s deserving of minutes and opportunities in the squad.
"He’s trained well over the last couple of days so we’ll keep working and looking with him towards the end of the season and if we feel it’s the right thing for the team and he can bring something extra to the team, there’s a chance that that opportunity will come.”