Town boss Kieran McKenna says Kalvin Phillips and Ben Johnson will be assessed ahead of Saturday’s game at Nottingham Forest, while Jacob Greaves and Nathan Broadhead are both ready to be involved, but the Blues have had disappointing news on George Hirst following his scan.
McKenna says everyone came through last Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United unscathed, but that Phillips and Johnson, who both had minor knocks, will be looked at prior to the trip to the City Ground.
"I think that the games that we’ve had, no fresh issues, if I’m correct,” he said. "We still have Kalvin, who missed last weekend, Ben, who missed last weekend, as well as some of our longer-term injuries.
"They’re still being assessed and we’re going to have to make some decisions and judgements going into this weekend. But in terms of the Man United game, everyone came through it well.”
Regarding Hirst, who suffered a knee injury at Tottenham, he added: "George has had another scan and it wasn’t particularly great news. We were hoping that it might be particularly great news, and it wasn’t.
"It’s going to be a period of time, certainly. We’re still not exactly sure, but it’s going to take us through the Christmas period, we think.”
While Ali-Hamadi is the obvious replacement for Hirst, the Iraq international having taken the former Leicester man’s place on the bench last week, McKenna says there are also other options in addition to the ex-Wimbledon man, who he says, reiterating comments he made last week, is relishing the chance.
"For Ali, it’s a really good opportunity,” he said. "But not just for Ali because Sam Szmodics can play in a version of a striker role, Nathan Broadhead can play in a version of a striker role, but Ali is the most natural last line presence of a striker and he’s really looking forward to it.”
McKenna confirmed that Greaves, who returned to training following his hamstring injury last week, and Broadhead, who had picked up a groin problem having previously suffered a hamstring issue in pre-season, are both ready to return to the squad.
"He’s training well,” McKenna said regarding the Wales international. "He had an injury before the Tottenham game in the week building up to that one, so he missed that game and unfortunately wasn’t able to go on international duty because he’s eager to get game time and we’re eager for him to get game time.
"It’s been longer than any of us would have wanted with his injury very early in pre-season that ruled him out well into the autumn.
"He’s now training well, not feeling any problems. We know the talent that he has and that he can play a big role in helping us create and score goals and I feel like there’s every chance that he’ll have his opportunities to do that over the next few weeks with the way the fixtures are coming. He’s ready to go and hopefully he can have a big impact for us.”