Town boss Kieran McKenna has confirmed defender Axel Tuanzebe is facing a long spell on the sidelines with the hamstring injury he suffered at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, while midfielder Kalvin Phillips and full-back Ben Johnson will be assessed before tomorrow evening’ home game against Crystal Palace.

Tuanzebe, one of the Blues’ top performers this season, suffered the injury in the second half of the match at the City Ground.

“We’ve lost Axel, hamstring, long term and had a couple of other knocks and little issues from the game that are being assessed today,” McKenna said when asked about injuries from the weekend.

The injury follows the hand injury which saw the DR Congo international miss three games after he severely cut his thumb with a broke glass while washing up.

“He’s done really well in terms of availability over the nearly 18 months that he’s been here,” McKenna reflected, the 27-year-old having had significant injury problems prior to joining the club in the summer of 2023 following his release by Manchester United.

“When you have a freak injury like he had that made him miss quite a few games for us over quite a long period, then you get a muscular injury like this which can happen, it compounds it and it means a very important player for us we’re going to miss for a large chunk of the season. It’s disappointing for him and disappointing for us as well.

“We know the significance of the injury, he’s seeing specialists, it’s still too early to say [precisely how long he might be out]. Hopefully it won’t need surgery but he’s getting specialists’ opinion over the next 24 hours, I think. But it’s a significant hamstring injury, so it’s not one that’s going to be a couple of weeks.”

Regarding Phillips and Johnson, who have been unavailable for the last two matches due to fitness issues, he said: “Kalvin had an ankle roll that he picked up shortly after the Leicester game. He’s trained with the group today and is feeling better.

“We have to make a decision with regards to tomorrow night. Definitely, touch wood, should be in a great position come Sunday’s game.

“And Ben pretty similar. Ben has a small muscular injury that he’s missed some training with for just over a week. He’s trained a bit with the group today as well, so again, we’ll have to make a decision for tomorrow night but hopefully by the end of the week, both will be in a good place.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 17:09 - Dec 2 A big blow for the team and for Axel personally, no getting away from it. IpswichMouse, Eze against anybody will be a nightmare, but it's something we have to deal with as best we can. Time for someone to step up and deliver - this has happened before, and it can happen again. Not sure who it will be, though. COYB!
0

therein61 added 17:37 - Dec 2 For me he is a key player this season(with Delap) and will be badly missed unless Johnson can believe in himself as there is a good player in there somewhere, injuries(bad ones) are more common it's perhaps the intensity in training but that's the prem for you C.O.Y.B.
0

Fermi_Parradox added 18:39 - Dec 2 Tzuensabe will be a loss as he has done really well. But Clarke is a great RB with so much passion and ability to get forward. A run in the side for him will be good.
0

littlestoneblue added 21:53 - Dec 2 The only trouble with Harry is he leaves big gaps on our right when he goes charging upfield and struggles to get back if he's learnt anything watching Axel you can only go forward as and when it is necessary, do not give loads of room to Eze stick to him like glue and the same goes for Davis at left back sit tight on your winger get at them for the full 90 mins and extra time

0

Marinersnose added 11:36 - Dec 3 Unfortunately he’s our best defender but his injury record is poor and he doesn’t seem to get much luck , a case in point is his hand injury. I think we need to spend big in this area to recruit a top defender. It’s a shame as he’s been outstanding when he plays
0

Blogs 298 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls