Town boss Kieran McKenna has revealed that Wes Burns, Omari Hutchinson, George Hirst and Nathan Broadhead are all back in full training, while Harry Clarke has also been back out on the grass and no one suffered a knock on international duty.

“We've got a full group available,” McKenna said at his lunchtime press conference. “All the boys have come back from international duty well.

“Those who've been here training with us have trained well. And we have our injuries back in and around the group now. So the group's looking really healthy.”

Hirst and Burns have both been out with knee and hamstring injuries since pre-season and the Liverpool game respectively but have been back involved with the squad in the last few days.
 
“Wes Burns and George Hirst both trained with the group this week,” McKenna added. “And Harry Clarke played a little part in training today for the first time. So that looks really positive.

Could Burns and Hirst be in the squad this weekend? “It’s not impossible. They’ve trained with the group pretty much all week, are both ahead of schedule really, but both are feeling really good and not feeling any ill effects.

“Of course, we’ll make the right judgement, not just for this weekend and we won’t take any unnecessary risks. But both are available, as it stands today, to be be involved with the squad.”

Forward Omari Hutchinson was sent back from England U21 duty for medical assessment but McKenna says the former Chelsea man is also now fine.

“He’s trained the last couple of days,” he said. “He had a tight hamstring after the Fulham game and didn’t recover for probably six or seven days after that, so he wasn’t able to train when he came back with us.

“But in the latter stages of this week, he’s been feeling better and he’s fully trained and again will be available.”

Nathan Broadhead has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since the opening week of pre-season but is also now back with the squad.

“Nathan’s training,” McKenna added. “Nathan’s trained this week as well, so fantastic to have him back with the quality that he brings.

“He’s been out for a little bit longer than the other two boys, he was out really from the very first week of pre-season, so he possibly needs a little bit more time to build up. But he’s back full training with the group, so that’s really positive.”

Photo: Matchday Images

BlueMoolay added 14:46 - Sep 12 Awesome news.!!!
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baxterbasics added 14:48 - Sep 12 Love it. Selection headaches for McKenna now!
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Len_Brennan added 15:37 - Sep 12 Great to have Burns & Broadhead back for match squads, for Southampton at least, if not for Brighton, but having Hirst back is the big bonus here. Having him come on fresh for Delap, or vice versa, will be a real pain for tiring centre backs that have been run around & battered for 60+ minutes.
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Suffolkboy added 16:29 - Sep 12 The most encouraging news we could have expected ! No doubt they’ll each be suitably managed in the days ahead and used as and when appropriate in the match day squads . It will be both interesting and exciting now to see how ITFC hold their own with everyone available and re- developing in the PL . COYB
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Gazelle added 16:31 - Sep 12 What a squad we’ve got.
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carsey added 18:33 - Sep 12 Have to agree with @Len_Brennan - having Hirst back is the big one for me. If he's 100% fit, him with Delap, to run opposition defenders around for 90+ minutes is going to be awesome to see.
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EatonBlue added 20:32 - Sep 12 Good news. Well done Dr McKenna.
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IpswichT62OldBoy added 15:48 - Sep 13 Says a lot about the backroom staff, medical and physio as well as sensible training regimen. I seem to remember us having a lot of injuries and that they tended to last a long time.
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