Town boss Kieran McKenna has confirmed defender Axel Tuanzebe is facing a long spell on the sidelines with the hamstring injury he suffered at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, while midfielder Kalvin Phillips and full-back Ben Johnson will be assessed before tomorrow evening’ home game against Crystal Palace.
Tuanzebe, one of the Blues’ top performers this season, suffered the injury in the second half of the match at the City Ground.
"We’ve lost Axel, hamstring, long term and had a couple of other knocks and little issues from the game that are being assessed today,” McKenna said when asked about injuries from the weekend.
The injury follows the hand injury which saw the DR Congo international miss three games after he severely cut his thumb with a broke glass while washing up.
"He’s done really well in terms of availability over the nearly 18 months that he’s been here,” McKenna reflected, the 27-year-old having had significant injury problems prior to joining the club in the summer of 2023 following his release by Manchester United.
"When you have a freak injury like he had that made him miss quite a few games for us over quite a long period, then you get a muscular injury like this which can happen, it compounds it and it means a very important player for us we’re going to miss for a large chunk of the season. It’s disappointing for him and disappointing for us as well.
"We know the significance of the injury, he’s seeing specialists, it’s still too early to say [precisely how long he might be out]. Hopefully it won’t need surgery but he’s getting specialists’ opinion over the next 24 hours, I think. But it’s a significant hamstring injury, so it’s not one that’s going to be a couple of weeks.”
Regarding Phillips and Johnson, who have been unavailable for the last two matches due to fitness issues, he said: "Kalvin had an ankle roll that he picked up shortly after the Leicester game. He’s trained with the group today and is feeling better.
"We have to make a decision with regards to tomorrow night. Definitely, touch wood, should be in a great position come Sunday’s game.
"And Ben pretty similar. Ben has a small muscular injury that he’s missed some training with for just over a week. He’s trained a bit with the group today as well, so again, we’ll have to make a decision for tomorrow night but hopefully by the end of the week, both will be in a good place.”