Blues striker Ali Al-Hamadi has suffered a calf injury, which will keep him out of action for a number of weeks, manager Kieran McKenna has revealed.
The 23-year-old, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Stoke, was a surprise absentee from today’s squad with young Irish forward Leon Ayinde taking a place among the subs for a league game for the first time.
"Ali picked up an injury in training on Thursday, so wasn’t available, which obviously leaves us really short in that area,” McKenna explained.
"Not very short term, hopefully not long term either, but he picked up an injury in the first session back after doing the 90 minutes against Bromley in the cup and it’s probably going to be a few weeks.”
The Iraqi international’s injury could impact his prospects for moving out on loan or on a permanent basis before the transfer window closes.
Luton Town were keen earlier in the summer, although their interest is believed to have cooled having Jerry Yates from Swansea. Ligue 1 Toulouse have also eyed the former Wycombe and Wimbledon man, while Charlton and Cardiff have been linked.
Meanwhile, McKenna says Town fans should have to wait too much longer to see new loan signing Chuba Akpom, who recently signed for the season from Ajax, in action.
"Hopefully soon,” he said. "He trained separately for the early part of the week but had some muscle tightness and soreness after we tried to get him up to speed, so we’ve had to slow it down a little bit, but hopefully not too much longer.
"But it will be really important to have him with the group as soon as possible. We’re shorter in the midfield and forward positions than we want to be, not just in terms of numbers but also just in the readiness of those players getting up to full speed and full fitness.
"Hopefully he’ll get some more training under his belt this week and be available for minutes soon.”