Blues boss Kieran McKenna says the injuries suffered by Conor Townsend and Jaden Philogene don’t look great, while Leif Davis missed out due to a knock and Harry Clarke could be facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines, but keeper Aro Muric is making good progress.

Townsend hurt his knee in the first half of this afternoon’s game, while Philogene picked up his issue in the second. The former West Brom man walked to the coach with a brace on his left left using crutches, while the forward was visibly limping, although not wearing a boot or on crutches.

“It doesn’t look great,” McKenna admitted. “That’s obviously going to be a downside of today. Conor’s is his knee, so we’ll get it scanned.

“Jaden’s is a heavy knock on his ankle, so again we’re going to have to see how he is.

“That leaves us in a frustrating time and a trickier situation going into next week but you’re going to have challenges over the course of the year.

“We’ll see how the boys are and those who have stayed at home as well, and we’ll deal with the challenge head-on.”

On Davis, he added: “Leif’s got an injury, so unfortunate timing and we’re going to have to see how he responds.”

Regarding Clarke, who has missed the last two friendlies, he continued: “Harry picked up an injury, so he’s going to be out for quite a while, we’re not exactly sure how long yet. It will be assessed over the next few weeks and we’ll decide the best course of action from there.

“It’s in his knee tendon, so it’s a decision around what’s the best course of action. Honestly, that won’t be decided until we’ve seen how the next few weeks pan out and it settles down.”

It’s another blow for the right-back, who underwent a double plantaris removal at the end of 2023/24 and then had another plantaris surgery at the end of last season.

“Very tough, he came back in great condition in pre-season, I have to say, physically and mentally, importantly, really focused, really giving it everything,” McKenna reflected.

“So, it’s really frustrating for him and we’re disappointed for him. But, look, there’s no definite on the timescale yet, if it pans out well in the next couple of weeks, then he could be back in not on a really, really long timescale. In another course of action, it could be a little bit longer.

“Disappointed for him, disappointed to lose him. We’ve got some challenges in the full-back positions at the moment that we weren’t predicting but you’re going to come across over the course of the year, so we’re going to have to deal with some early ones.”

Meanwhile, McKenna says keeper Muric is making progress following his shoulder surgery in March, the Kosovo international having come on as a half-time sub at Colchester on Tuesday.

“He’s training well and he’s done well in the minutes in the minutes that he’s had. He did well when he came on against Charlton,” he said.

“Alex [Palmer] and Christian [Walton] have done the whole pre-season and are a little bit ahead of him fitness-wise and match fitness-wise, but he’s training well and getting stronger day by day, so he’s ready and fit should we need him and should the opportunities arise.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Tedray added 12:16 - Aug 3 It is looking a bit doubtful whether Philogene and Muric will come good.It must be a concern in some places that so much money including wages has been risked on these two. Do such signings have to be sanctioned by the top brass or do certain members of the club have a free hand. Paying Premiership money for players who do not look like ever being capable of playing in that division.Hopefully all this can at some point be resolved without too much pain.

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blueboy1981 added 13:12 - Aug 3 This has become a posting site for Blue Tints (never removed whatever), F#ckwits, Dumbats. the totally Delusional, and Kids Playground. Maybe another indication of how the Club’s following has changed - time changes everything, and seldom for the better.
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Linkboy13 added 13:16 - Aug 3 Blueboy1981 stop talking about yourself.
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Alphawhiskey added 09:34 - Aug 4 This forum is fast becoming toxic. It used to be decent with open honest views on various topics. Now its full of nasty, spiteful comments aimed at our own players, some of them just young kids with a lot of pressure on their heads. The way Muric has been treated by some of you so called fans is embarrassing and disgusting. Its full of so called fans having a pop at other fans just because their opinion differs to theirs. its also full of armchair manager's and CEO's who believe they can do a better job than our owners and manager. As a club we are in a very very good place, We could always be a Morcombe or a Sheffield Wednesday.... Real fans stick together, value others opinions and have a mature respect for each other and the players, not slag each other off every five minutes.

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