Town have no new injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s first Championship home game of the season against Stoke City but right-back Harry Clarke’s achilles problem, which he has had since last season, continues to require management.
Clarke, who spent a spell on loan with the Potters last season, came on as a sub in the 2-0 Carabao Cup tie against Bristol Rovers on Wednesday but while not over his injury.
"We just have to get his management right because he has an ongoing achilles issue,” manager Kieran McKenna said. "When you have a tendon issue you have a delicate balance, so he’s missed a lot of training.
"We wanted to get him on the pitch for some limited minutes on Wednesday rather than training, but he still has missed some training and hasn’t started a game since [the friendly away against Austrian side] Admira Wacker and he was in some pain in that game.
"It’s something that we’re managing and the medical team. We feel like it’s gradually progressing in the right way but it’s one that we’ll have to try and manage over the next few weeks and what minutes and what training minutes are going to be right for the team and set him up for a good season.”
Is the issue partly due to the harder pitches this time of year? "That’s one thing. I’m not medically qualified to give all the reasons for a tendinopathy but I think typically you do find if you change surfaces, which is one thing when you go on camps and play in different stadiums in pre-season and harder surfaces, they tend to be tougher on players with tendon issues, which is quite a few of our players and I think is pretty common in a lot of squads, but Harry’s got one at the minute that is just taking a little bit more management.”
McKenna says there are no significant injury concerns aside from keeper Christian Walton, who is out with a plantar fascia tear.
"No, of course, you have little things throughout the squad,” McKenna continued. "But Harry’s the main one that’s being managed but he’s trained today. It’s only really Christian Walton who is out at the moment.”