Town boss Mick McCarthy has confirmed that winger Ryan Fraser is facing six to eight weeks out with a hamstring injury and has revealed that midfield pair Cole Skuse and Giles Coke are also set to be sidelined.

“He’ll probably be out for six to eight weeks,” McCarthy said regarding Fraser, who suffered his injury in the final moments at QPR last week. “A real sad one that, I could tell when he did it he’d damaged his hamstring.

“Fair play to him, he kept hold of the ball for three or four seconds trying to get someone in play, which shows what he’s all about.

“He left the building as positive as ever, saying that he’s going to be six weeks and he’ll be back, and let’s hope that’s the case. But the timeframe is that it’ll be eight weeks.

“He’s been exceptional on both occasions he's been here. We missed him when he was injured the last time and we’ll miss him again this time, no doubt. But you have to get on with it, somebody else will get to play.”

Regarding former Bristol City man Skuse, he said: “Cole Skuse is out for at least a month, it could be six weeks. He has damaged a ligament in his toe.

“He did it early on in the game and limped through. He came off and had it strapped at half-time.

“It gave him a bit of comfort but it just got too much. That’s a real blow because he’s been in every game, he’s been inked in, he’s been one of the first names on the teamsheet for the last two and a half or three years.”

A disappointed Cole Skuse talks us through his injury, which will deny him the chance to return to Ashton Gate #itfchttps://t.co/K7Yc3u8FOo

— Ipswich Town FC (@Official_ITFC) February 11, 2016

Coke suffered a knee problem which looked serious having come on as a sub at Loftus Road but carried on but is also now looking at a month out: “He’s out for four weeks as well, he’s damaged his knee.”

Better news is that Luke Hyam is making progress after missing last week’s game with a calf problem, although he is a far from certain starter at Ashton Gate on Saturday.

“Luke Hyam may well be available yet, he went through his training today and we’ll see how he reacts tomorrow and then [after this weekend] we’ll have Jonathan Douglas back [from his three-match ban] and that certainly strengthens my hand.”

He added: “We’ve still got options in there, Kevin Bru, Tabby and Ainsley plays in there as well.

“If we get Ben Pringle, he plays in there, so we have got options we can put in there. Kev Foley can play in there.

“And if we have to get down to our own kids rather than looking at anybody else’s, Adam McDonnell’s been doing great in the U21s. But whatever we’ve got on Saturday we’ll make the best of it.”

Photo: Action Images

footyblue added 19:07 - Feb 11 Mick won't play the youngsters its not his style but look at the dividends other teams have had playing youngsters i think the biggest problem is those in the academy are taught to play football unlike the first team
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vanmunt added 19:14 - Feb 11 Bristol City play some good football and I can see them exploiting our fall back deficiencies.. They also like to pass the ball and our policy of hoofing it back to the opposition might be problematic on Saturday. The only reason they are as low as they are as the forwards tend to suffer from not being able to hit a cows ass with a banjo... Hopefully this will continue sat but I fear the worse as I will never hear the end of it being a Bristol lad.

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braveblue added 20:16 - Feb 11 What a complete shambles we are. Kev Foley can play central midfield in a promotion chasing team. Heard it all now!!!!
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bohslegend added 22:00 - Feb 11 Footyblue so MM won't play youngsters??? Bishop, AMN, Mings, to name three regulars under MM. Do you want all 11 to be teenagers? How many would be enough for you to give credit to the manager?
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BrettenhamBlue added 22:37 - Feb 11 It's great that MM has shown complete transparency about the injuries situation, but my understanding was that Hyam and Bru are still a couple of weeks away from first team football? I would be shocked to see either against Bristol City. Skuse will be a huge loss,as is Fraser. Douglas is an obvious starter in the middle but we are in a bit of a shambles about who will partner him. Either an injured Hyam or Foley by the sounds of things. Surely Pringle would just be a straight swap for Fraser. Cokes knee is no surprise. Wednesday fans always said he seemed to be playing with an injury a lot of the time. Makes me feel bad as I've criticised him a fair amount but it might be because his playing days are over. As others have said, Oar and Parr would have really had their chance now. Oar in particular could have been a starter for every game between now and the end of the season.

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Keaneish added 23:39 - Feb 11 When you read Mick's words... Does it remind you of your grandad? It does me...
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dirtydingusmagee added 10:45 - Feb 12 i dont need to look at new signings,i am happy with what ive got ! Dosnt look so friggin cosy now does it ME MM.
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Warkys_Tash added 13:19 - Feb 12 Scrapedy-Scrape. Should have signed some players in the window Mick but we knew you wouldn't especially as we were 2nd last year & still never did!!!
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