Town boss Kieran McKenna says he’s going to have a late call at left wing-back ahead of Saturday’s game at Sheffield Wednesday with Matt Penney and Hayden Coulson both having been out injured and Kane Vincent-Young suspended, while Lee Evans will similarly be assessed tomorrow but Scott Fraser and Vaclav Hladky are both back training again.

Penney has been out after suffering a minor knee injury at Bolton, while Coulson has been unavailable since taking a heavy blow to his leg at Wycombe in early November.

With Vincent-Young banned after his late red card at Wimbledon on Tuesday, McKenna says he will leave it until Friday before making his choice on who comes in to replace the former Colchester man.

“It’s going to be a late decision that one,” he said. “There are still a few things that can change with injuries and otherwise, so we’ll make that call after training or by training tomorrow.

“We’ve just had a good session on the grass, but we’ve got another training session and another 48 hours before the game, so we’ll keep our options open.

“We have good options there, there are different dynamics that we can play on that side of the pitch, and we’ll try and pick what is right for the game on Saturday.”

In addition to former Owl Penney and Coulson, who is on loan for the season from Middlesbrough, McKenna hasn’t ruled out starting Kyle Edwards at left wing-back, while Bailey Clements had a run of games at left-back late in Paul Cook’s time at the club.

Keeper Hladky has been absent from the bench for the last couple of games due to illness but is now available again, while Evans suffered a groin problem in the warm-up ahead of the Accrington match and Fraser has had a knee problem.

The availability of Evans in particular would be a bonus with skipper Sam Morsy set to serve the second game of his three-match ban.

“Vas is back in training, Scott’s back in training, that’s good, he’s been training with us for the last few days and is now available,” McKenna continued.

“Lee Evans has trained individually today and we have to wait until tomorrow, he’s still touch and go in terms of his involvement for Saturday, so we’ll see how he is with training tomorrow.”

Quizzed on claims Fraser is interesting Swansea, who are managed by his old MK Dons boss Russell Martin, McKenna added: “The club haven’t come to me with anything concrete on that one, to be honest.

“Those calls are directed towards the club but they haven’t come to me with anything concrete on that, so as far as I’m concerned he’s part of the planning.

“He’s obviously not been able to get on the pitch in my time here so far, but it’s only been maybe five weeks or so.

“He’s had a little injury in that time, obviously we had two games called off due to Covid. I know all about Scott’s qualities, watched lots of him for Burton and for MK, so he’s certainly a player who has quality and impact at this level and is a player who can contribute for us when he gets the opportunity.”

Jon Nolan has been out with a variety of injuries since last March, initially a knee problem, but is now back in training but McKenna says the former Shrewsbury man still needs a little more time before being in the running for first-team inclusion.

“He’s probably still a little bit away from contending to start games. He’s back in the training group,” he said.

“When you’ve been out for a good amount of time, you can often get some other little issues and niggles on the side, that’s stalled him at times over recent periods, I believe.

“Thankfully, his major injury that he had has much improved, no big long-term issues there hopefully, so now it’s just about getting a rhythm in training, that’s obviously a challenge when you’ve had a longer injury and a long time out.

“At the moment, he’s just trying to get a consistent run and rhythm of training, build that resilience up to be able to be out there competing every day and he’s getting through that at the moment and getting closer and if he can keep doing that he can obviously start to contend for minutes, but at the moment he’s still a bit away from that.”

Photo: TWTD

hoppy added 15:19 - Jan 27 "...with skipper Sam Morsy set to serve the second game of his three-match ban." I thought it was a 4 game ban, Phil?
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markchips added 15:22 - Jan 27 Although I admire the schoolteachers in-depth explanation on Nolan , I suspect we will have a long wait before we see Nolan, if ever again. We really do need to learn our lesson with taking on injury prone players, especially in the third division where no prisoners are taken.
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Bazza8564 added 15:58 - Jan 27 Kyle Edwards at LWB would be a bold call, lets see what KM opts to go with. On Nolan, OMG id actually forgotten all about him. With options and depth notwithstanding the suspensions do we really see him coming back and playing ahead of a Carroll, Tareeq, or even Cameron H? Id be more inclined to patch the lad up, get him out on loan and give him a chance to rebuild his contract chances elsewhere, no games here and a contract running down dont feel like good choices for the lad....

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Ipswichbusiness added 16:36 - Jan 27 Odd the way that things change. A few weeks ago one would have said that with Coulsen, Penny, KV-Y, Kenlock, Clements and Burgess the left-back slot looked well over-populated. However, now with Coulsen and Penny injured, KV-Y suspended and Kenlock out on loan it is looking a bit tricky.
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arc added 17:16 - Jan 27 Give Humphreys a go at left wing-back. He's looked ready in his few minutes. It would be nice to have Fraser to add to our midfield options. What is Nolan's injury anyway??–it's been a year!
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gosblue added 17:40 - Jan 27 I thought Clements had a good spell. In his first game during that spell he was stood too square on with his back to the touch-line. That meant that when he received the ball he could only pass it sideways or backwards. By the time of the second game, he had obviously listened to the coaches and opened his body up more. He was then able to look forward for a pass or take on a defender. He became very effective. I would give him a go. Other than that I can see us switching to a back four. Didn't Burgess play left-back for us once?

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gosblue added 17:40 - Jan 27 I thought Clements had a good spell. In his first game during that spell he was stood too square on with his back to the touch-line. That meant that when he received the ball he could only pass it sideways or backwards. By the time of the second game, he had obviously listened to the coaches and opened his body up more. He was then able to look forward for a pass or take on a defender. He became very effective. I would give him a go. Other than that I can see us switching to a back four. Didn't Burgess play left-back for us once?

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chepstowblue added 18:01 - Jan 27 Edwards at left wing back would be a very bold call. Although it would make things lopsided I'd sooner Donacien switch to the left, Burgess come into the left of a back three with Edmundson in the middle and Woolfy to the right. Burns may have his toughest game up against the often brilliant Mendez-Laing. I think he'll be on the back foot as much as we've seen him. Not a must win, but certainly a mustn't lose game. Our record at bigger stadiums has been poor this season and this one will certainly sort out the men from the boys and give a better indication of whether we can make a serious play off push.

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Mariner1974 added 00:56 - Jan 28 I think you're all forgetting this is left wing back rather than a left back we're after here. Burns doesn't do much defending as a right wing back, so why not go for Kyle Edwards, who can scare the heck out of defence, and is great at attacking the box and cutting in from the bye line. Arguably the trickiest player we have, and has been forgotten about in recent times. Cameron H is solid and would love to see him grow, but is more suited to left back at present, then the attacking intent of a wing back

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Mariner1974 added 00:58 - Jan 28 Of course new loan signing from Brentford if McK likes what he sees in training, might go straight into the mix.
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