Striker Oli Hawkins is set to undergo a knee operation which is expected to keep him out for around six weeks, while James Norwood may not be able to start tomorrow’s home game against Peterborough having suffered fatigue in his hamstring during last Saturday’s 1-0 win at Burton and Kayden Jackson missed training earlier in the week and is a doubt.

Assistant boss Stuart Taylor, again standing in for manager Paul Lambert at his pre-match press conference, says Hawkins has been feeling the problem for a little while.

“Oli’s out injured, he’s going for a knee operation but hopefully won’t be out for too long,” he said.

“It’s been niggling at him for a couple of weeks now and we’ve tried to manage it and he’s always got through the pain barrier, but last week he actually came out of training and hence the reason he’s [having the surgery].

“We’ve tried to get him through and manage things but at the start of the week it was just too much for him.

“I don’t see it being anything going into double figures in terms of weeks. I think it’ll probably come in around about the six-week mark.”

He added: “Kayden missed training at the start of the week, so we’ll see whether he comes into contention along with Nors for tomorrow.”

However, he says Lambert will have to consider whether Norwood is OK to start following last week’s game away against the Brewers.

“Nors came off [in the 59th minute], he just felt a little bit of fatigue in his hamstring so he just needed protecting from that,” he said.

“Whether the manager goes and starts him tomorrow is something he’ll go and think about. We just need to wait and see on that one.”

Regarding Jackson’s problem, he added: “It’s a thigh and hip injury. We have to make a decision on him without giving too much away.

“He never trained earlier on in the week, but towards the end of the week he was on the grass.”

Given the situations with Hawkins, Norwood and Jackson, Aaron Drinan may well get the nod to start against Posh.

Jackson and Emyr Huws travelled to the Pirelli Stadium last weekend but weren’t involved on the day, however, Taylor says they took that professionally.

“As I said, Kayden was injured at the start of the week but he’s getting over that now,” he continued.

“Every reaction from every player has been what we’ve been looking for, it’s been positive, everybody that doesn’t play is going to be disappointed and if they were happy not to be playing then you question their professionalism in that sense.

“He showed the right reaction, it’s a good mentality to see, everybody wants to go and win games and achieve the same goals. Everybody’s been totally fine and everybody’s trained well.”

James Wilson, Cole Skuse (both knee), Keanan Bennetts (groin) have also been out of late with the centre-half and the on-loan Borussia Mönchengladbach wideman both having been back out on the Playford Road turf.

“Keanan came back training this week which was good,” Taylor added. “He came through the session fine, which was positive so he won’t be too far away.”

“And Willo started running on grass this week which was good to see, and Cole is coming along fine.”

Moving on to the longer-term injured, he says Kane Vincent-Young is continuing to make progress.

“Kane’s trained a couple of times this week and we’re hoping that he goes and gets another full week behind him next week,” Taylor said. “And then we can start looking at some sort of playing some sort of game for the U23s or in-house.”

Midfielder Tristan Nydam has been out of action since breaking his ankle and suffering ligament damage in July 2019 and Taylor says the 21-year-old is also making progress.

“He’s coming along fine,” he said. “We do feel Tristan has been forgotten about in that sense, but certainly, inside the building, he’s a big part in the dressing room. He’s well-liked and he’s got a great personality, and he’s showed incredible courage to come through.

“And he’s been back on the grass, which has been fantastic to see and hopefully he goes from strength to strength. He’s a great character, a really strong character.”

Taylor says Lambert still needs to take it a little bit easy having been ill with Covid-19 but is working his way back to full involvement.

“He really does, but with his personality, his character and the way he’s always been through his career, he’s never going to go and take a back step and take the easy route,” he said.

“He’s been on the pitch again, he’s been involved in doing as much as he possibly can. I think he’s just trying to build back up again, build his strength up and it’s really important that he does that and not just sit back too much.

“It’s finding that middle ground and just making sure that he gets stronger but at the same time without doing too much.”

Taylor expects to be joined in the dugout by Lambert tomorrow, the Blues boss having been on the bench at the Pirelli Stadium, although rarely venturing towards the edge of the technical area.

“I’m sure he will be!” Taylor continued. “I don’t know for sure, he’ll see how he is when he wakes up in the morning, but he was on the touchline last week so I don’t see him going back and taking a rest, I think he’s always one that’s pushing himself. I’m sure he’ll be on the touchline tomorrow.”

Photo: Matchday Images

ArnieM added 10:14 - Jan 22 ..... and so it rumbles on at this Club!
2

SickParrot added 10:14 - Jan 22 Why do we only sign players made of glass?
4

SickParrot added 10:16 - Jan 22 Doesn't matter whose fit or injured, Posh are a decent team so we will lose anyway!
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MoscowBlueMule added 10:17 - Jan 22 Even the Manager is injured now. We need to send in a Psychic to rid us of the bad energy. Would have to be under 21 years old though so not to waste any of the salary cap :)
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brittaniaman added 10:27 - Jan 22 Norwood had a complete injury free season at Tranmere and scored loads of goals, He comes to ITFC and he has been injured more than he has played in the one and a half seasons he has been here, Very Strange or is it ????
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dirtydingusmagee added 10:36 - Jan 22 pathetic, it never ends, I said last week Norwood had a knock so that will be him out again , these players are soft as a jelly baby , look back at the likes of Butcher, and Holland , Mills,Wark ,to name a few, barring a broken leg or decapitation they would they would fighting anyone who tried to stop them playing.Times have changed , now its big wages big ego's and no balls.

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TimmyH added 10:37 - Jan 22 Just as a number come back a number then get injured...this was even mentioned by SKY a couple of weekends ago about the continuous injuries.
0

Bolton56 added 10:37 - Jan 22 How is it that we have players here who before joining us played regularly and now seem injured on a regular basis. We have players who after they leave us can play week after week in some cases at a higher and more demanding level but whilst here were injured more often than not. It can't just be bad luck it's been going on to long Is it a problem in the fitness/medical department, or is it the attitude of the players. If it were a happy and successful dressing room would so many players be unavailable so regularly

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BlueandTruesince82 added 10:40 - Jan 22 Conspiracy theory...... these players are not injured Lambo/Taylor just saying they are to cling on to their jobs
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Razor added 10:46 - Jan 22 I am sure Doctor Bob and our medical department are on top of things-----ha ha!! You win matches by scoring goals (memo to Lambert) so with all this going on would have thought we would have strngthened up top first-----but what do I know, only a fan.
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Nobbysnuts added 10:47 - Jan 22 Absolute joke.....
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cornishblu added 10:48 - Jan 22 Anyone else still screaming at the computer saying (Copy and paste) We need another striker ! Instead we just fill our midfield up more and more !,
1

StavangerBlue added 10:56 - Jan 22 We are the new Arsenal. All midfielders. Play it around a lot, lose the ball because of a poor mistake, concede and lose the game.
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Eireannach_gorm added 10:56 - Jan 22 Excellent opportunity to test the capabilities of our Zoom physio department. Remote surgery is the way to go. Great to see Town pushing the technical limits.
2

stevelincsexile added 11:09 - Jan 22 What's happened to Mcgavin, he seems to have gone off the radar?
1

Beattiesballbag added 11:18 - Jan 22 That makes sense! Hawkins has been feeling his injury for a couple of weeks yet he was in the last squad & Jackson wasn't.......On another note couldn't Evans spend a couple of weeks up at Leicester to see how their scouting network & recruitment works,.... as well as managers, this has been one of our biggest failings for way to long.
3

Marinersnose added 11:23 - Jan 22 Positive vibes are the two new signings but there it appears to end. Reading between the lines our strikers other than Drinan are touch and go. I really like Drinan but he doesn't score goals. I hope that whoever picks the team tomorrow plays the strongest team and players such as Judge is not included because he's a lovely chap. The same players are letting this club down. KVY is clearly a spent force as he hasn't progressed in the past month unless the club are not releasing details. Chambers at right back for the foreseeable future is extremely worrying. Yes he made a good block last week but he shouldn't be a first choice in a team looking for promotion

2

London_Blue added 11:27 - Jan 22 I'll tell you what I think it is.... Players know their legs only have a certain amount of running in them so if they believe there's nothing to gain in a particular season or there's low morale, they fain injury, this enables them to add years onto their legs at the end of their career and therefore extending the time they can earn a living playing football. Of course this doesn't go for every player as some genuinely need surgery etc, but it's more than a coincidence that we have so many players out injured at the same time. Ironically, it was the Asst Chairman at Colchester that shared this with me, having experienced similar issues there.

1

ArnieM added 11:33 - Jan 22 I'll say it again. There is something fundamentally wrong at this Club regarding strength and conditioning training . That's why injuries occur in the first place. The rehabilitation comes later ( naturally), and maybe even that needs a review. But these injury issues have been going on at this Club for years now., at least four or five. My fears are that it's down to Evans cost cutting on the necessary levels of funding required to run an elite professional athlete concern. It's no down to coincidence.

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Ipswichbusiness added 11:51 - Jan 22 London_Blue; whilst I understand your argument, the fact remains that we are close to the play offs and the automatic spots. If we are promoted then the players will be on much better money. That ought to motivate them to play.
1

London_Blue added 11:54 - Jan 22 Ipswichbusiness; you could be right and don't shoot the messenger, but maybe some believe they'll be replaced with better quality if we gain promotion?
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midastouch added 12:07 - Jan 22 The team bus will soon be getting converted into a St John Ambulance at this rate!
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Ipswichbusiness added 12:19 - Jan 22 London_blue: us? Spending spree? With Mr Evans in charge?
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Bergholtblue added 12:19 - Jan 22 Two new players to "create things going forward and to make things happen" but no-one to pass to!
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Suffolkboy added 12:20 - Jan 22 As always , ‘ something's up ‘ and nobody seems to get to the bottom of it ! There's been some fallings out behind the scene ; we don't see the total energy and enthusiasm from our lads on the pitch AND the injury list is never ending . Who do we import ,again, players with doubtful fitness records ; what gives with our scouting and talent assessments ,or are there other reasons why we seem not to be able to pick and choose more widely ? As for PL then he really must take time to get this illness successfully conquered ; his is a job where fitness and mental strength is essential , and being under par won't help his cause or ours ! COYB

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