Town boss Kieran McKenna has confirmed skipper Sam Morsy and Jack Taylor missed today’s game with hamstring injuries, while Omari Hutchinson was ill overnight and Chiedozie Ogbene suffered a suspected achilles tear this afternoon, which is likely to keep the Irish international out for some months.
The Blues were already without several first-team regulars prior to those four with Axel Tuanzebe out having undergone hand surgery, Jacob Greaves also with a hamstring problem, Massimo Luongo having an ankle issue and Ben Johnson a thigh injury.
"Samy [Morsy] picked up a hamstring injury in the Everton game that he managed to finish the game with, but has a hamstring strain, so wasn’t available,” McKenna said.
"Jack Taylor has a hamstring injury, which will rule him out until at least after the international break.
"Samy’s isn’t quite so significant but there’s going to be a big, big question mark around next week.
"Jack would have come in for Samy and that would have been the plan during the week because Jens [Cajuste] hasn’t trained enough with the group yet.
"Jack Taylor’s picked up an injury at the backend of the training week, which is very disappointing for him and for us.
"I thought Jens was outstanding, I have to say, he’s barely trained since the injury he picked up in the Southampton and ideally wouldn’t have been coming in today and certainly wouldn’t have played as long as he did, but he really pushed through for the team and it was an incredible effort.
"Omari was due to start the game and was sick in the early hours and through the morning, so was another late change.
"There’s been a lot of disruption and that makes me even more proud of the performance and the way individuals came in and the mentality we showed as a team.”
Regarding Ogbene, who suffered his problem in the build-up to Town’s second goal against his old club, McKenna added: "It looks serious, unfortunately. It looks like it could be an achilles tear, so that would be devastating for him and for us.
"That’s what I’ve been told at the moment. We hope that won’t be the case but I think that’s what looks most likely.
"Is it a six-to-nine-month injury? You’ll have to get a medical opinion on that but an achilles tear is a big injury, so we hope that it won’t be that but I think the consensus at the moment is that it is.”