Town boss Kieran McKenna has given a largely positive rundown of the injury situation ahead of the Christmas fixtures with Janoi Donacien, Luke Woolfenden and Richard Keogh not far away from being fit, Lee Evans and Marcus Harness ready to go following their knee problems and George Edmundson training without discomfort.

“We’re getting there,” McKenna said. “It’s been good this week, to be honest, to have a few more on the grass. It’s the first time in a while it’s felt like we’ve had a fuller squad, so that’s been a boost.

“We’ve got a couple who we’re not sure whether they’ll be ready for the first game, the Oxford game, but the large majority of the squad we think will be ready to contribute over the course of the three games up as far as Lincoln.

“We’re getting better in terms of numbers, and not just numbers, but those who have come back really, really quickly have had an extra little bit of training time now and I think physically, we’re going to be in a stronger position.”

Woolfenden and Donacien missed the 1-0 defeat at Wycombe last week due to an adductor strain and a rolled ankle respectively, while Keogh came off at half-time having taken a kick to the calf.

“Janoi and Luke aren’t far away,” McKenna said. “They’re in that category of whether they’re going to be ready for Oxford or not, that’s another matter.

“We need to decide over the next couple of days but they’ve started back doing some training on the grass and we think they’ll be involved across the three games. We have to see over the next couple of days go.

“Richard Keogh’s a very, very minor issue in his calf, so he’s not back training with the group yet but we hope that he’ll return over the next few days and will hopefully be available for some of the fixtures over the Christmas period.”

"Edmundson, who replaced the former Irish international at Adams Park, hadn’t trained much in the week prior to the game against the Chairboys due to a knee problem, but McKenna says the centre-half has been fine since that match.

“George has trained well, he’s feeling better with his knee, didn’t feel too many ill effects coming on at half-time last week and he’s trained well,” he said.

Midfielder Evans made his return as a sub after a picking up a knee injury in the Derby match towards the end of October and isn’t far off making a start.

“Soon-ish,” he said. “He’s training well, not feeling any ill effects with his knee. Of course, he’s been out for quite a while but he’s a fit boy he’s training well, so I’m sure he’s going to be ready for a good amount of minutes over the next week.”

Forward Harness warmed-up with the squad at Wycombe and is in a similar position to Evans.

“Yes, same, Marcus has trained with the team now for well over a week really, so he’s in good condition and looks fit, is training well, so he’s going to be ready for minutes over the Christmas games,” he said.

McKenna is pleased to have more of his squad involved in training than has been the case for a few weeks.

“We’ve gone from 12, 13, 14 to 17, 18 over the last few days and it’s felt like a big boost,” he continued.

“It’s important, it’s well-timed. Of course, I still think in a couple of weeks we’ll be in a better position with the players coming back from injury, hopefully.

“But we’re in a better position than we have been over the last couple of weeks. We’re getting back towards full health and that’s been a big boost for the group.”

The only negative on the fitness front is midfielder Panutche Camara having undergone further surgery on his groin injury.

Photo: Matchday Images

TalkingBlues added 16:35 - Dec 22 The problem for me here, is just how quickly people are returning from injury, as they appear quite regularly to be picking up further niggles as a consequence of returning too soon. January window should allow us to rehabilitate players on a more sensible timescale.
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jas0999 added 17:06 - Dec 22 Overall, very positive news! Some key players.
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Cadiar added 19:27 - Dec 22 Again loads of opinions & statements from people as if they are privy to information when in fact it is all supposition. Camara refused a new contract at Plymouth & the fee was believed to be around £500,000. He would have had a rigorous medical so if anyone is at fault it is the medical team. He was very highly regarded by the Plymouth fans & seen as their outstanding player & generally recognised as one of League 1's best players so even though he may lose just about a season I still see him as a good signing & hopefully he will recover although if he doesn't I'm sure there are insurances in place.

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Ipswichbusiness added 08:35 - Dec 23 I expect that the medical team knew full well of Camara's injury, but the Club decided to take a calculated risk which has not come off.
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Bazza8564 added 09:40 - Dec 23 On Camara, we signed him right at the end of the window and we knew he had an issue. It hasn't cleared up and obviously there are players coming in during January that mean the surgery is best done now rather than waiting til the summer. We have him on a long deal, its only been 4 months give the guy a break. I'm also interested to read what Talkingblues says about people coming back from injury too quickly, and Im struggling to think of anyone that's come back under Kiaran that's had further issues. Camara didn't get back to anything like proper fitness (KM's words), so unless i'm forgetting a few I'm actually thinking the medical team have refused to rush people back only for them to break down again. What have I missed?

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BurleysGloryDays added 11:31 - Dec 23 I've been pretty disappointed with our points haul in the last 6-8 games, feels like we should have taken more and we should be comfortably clear at the top. (Greedy I know but necessary) But reality is when you look at the injuries we've had, it was to be expected. Hoping that with a stronger squad we can start to see superiority produce results again. Such a shame that TJJ is out for so long, we looked so damaging with him, Leigh and Sone and others coming on in the 60th at the start of the season

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Orraman added 13:36 - Dec 23 Reading this update on the injuries front reminds me of the injury updates from Lambert and Cook who both tried to give the impression that they were unaware of how injured players were progressing. So good now that we supporters are being kept updated as far as possible without alerting our forthcoming opponents to the full picture
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