McKenna: Hirst Out For Weeks, Phillips Among Those to Be Assessed Ahead of Sunday Friday, 22nd Nov 2024 14:48 Town boss Kieran McKenna has confirmed that striker George Hirst will be out for a number of weeks with the knee injury he suffered at Tottenham a fortnight ago, while midfielder Kalvin Phillips is among a number of players who will be assessed ahead of Sunday’s game against Manchester United at Portman Road. McKenna says most of those who have been away on international duty came through their games without a problem. “Mostly OK,” he said. “We’ve had one or two little issues since the last games. Kalvin’s had a little issue since the Leicester game, so we’re going to have to check on him over the next 48 hours. And one or two others, who have had a few little issues over the break. “But I think those who have have come back from international duty have all come back in good nick and everyone in that group has trained well over the last two days, so should be available.” Regarding Hirst, who twice underwent lengthy spells of treatment having come on as a sub at Spurs, he added: “George is going to be out for a while with the knee injury that he sustained at the end of the Tottenham game. “Not exactly sure on the timescale, hopefully it’s not months and months, but it’s certainly weeks and weeks, so that will be monitored and scanned again next week and we’ll know how he is then. “That’s a loss, of course, he’d been having a really good impact, both when he started and when he came off the bench. But not it will be an opportunity for other people to step up.” Centre-half Jacob Greaves has missed the last four games with a hamstring injury and is back in training, along with Jack Taylor, who has also been unavailable for the last three, also due to a hamstring issue. “Jacob’s trained with the squad this week, so we’ve got decisions to make on a few in that category, Jack Taylor similar, both have trained with the group this week,” McKenna added. “We’ve got decisions to make going into the game in terms of readiness and minutes and availability that we’ll make over the next 48 hours.” Forward Omari Hutchinson missed both England U21s matches and returned to the club early but McKenna says the former Chelsea man is back in training. “Omari’s trained today, he had a heavily, heavily bruised foot after Tottenham, you can probably remember the incident,” he said. “He was unavailable, he tried to be available for the games with England [U21s], to be fair, but wasn’t able to make it. “But he’s trained today and again we’ll have to make a judgement on how many minutes he’s available for but the bruised foot seems to have improved a fair bit.” Ali Al-Hamadi wasn’t involved with Iraq during the international break but McKenna says the striker is fine with Hirst’s absence presenting the ex-Wimbledon man with an opportunity. “Ali’s OK, I haven’t spoken to him too much about his situation with his national team because he’s only just returned,” McKenna continued. “But he’s good, he’s been training well, I have to say. He’s been training with a real good application, real team focus, trying to help the group over the last few weeks and when people are like that, you always feel like you’re itching for them to get their opportunity. “And I think we’ve got nine games between Man United on Sunday and Fulham on 5th January, so I’m pretty sure Ali’s going to have a big part to play in those games. “He’s been working hard for that opportunity, so I’m sure he’ll give a good account of himself.” Wes Burns and Nathan Broadhead both missed out on adding to their international games with Wales due to fitness problems but are also back on the grass. “Nathan had a groin injury so he wasn’t available for the Tottenham squad, he had a groin injury from the middle of that week and he went on international duty hoping that it would clear up in time for him to be involved in the Wales game,” the Town manager added. “But it wasn’t going to clear up in time, so he ended up coming back. He’s trained with the group today, so he’s feeling better. “And Wes had a knock to his knee going into the last few fixtures, to be fair, which needed some treatment and some management over the break, so he’s had that and he’s trained today.” Regarding centre-half Dara O’Shea, who has been playing with a back problem, McKenna said: “He’s in a pretty good place, he’s hopefully through the worst of it with the back injury he’s had. “I’ve spoken before about how commendable his efforts have been in that period and I think he’s in a better place with it now, so hopefully he gets a nice clear run now through the next run of fixtures.”
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