Town boss Kieran McKenna has explained why Jaden Philogene, Jens Cajuste and Omari Hutchinson missed tonight’s 1-1 draw at Birmingham.

Philogene suffered an ankle injury in the final friendly at Auxerre last weekend and the former Aston Villa man is doing better than was initially anticipated.

“We feared that it might be a little bit longer but he’s progressing pretty well,” McKenna said. “So we’ll see how he goes into next week.”

Cajuste’s return for a second loan spell from Napoli was confirmed yesterday and the Sweden international was available but McKenna says the midfielder isn’t ready to be involved.

“It definitely came too soon,” he said. “He arrived really late, I’ve only seen him for about 15 seconds since he joined, we’ve had plenty of phone calls.

“He’s going to need a little bit of time, hopefully not too long, to get him up to speed, to be honest. He’s not had a proper pre-season with Napoli.

“So, it’s going to be a balance between getting him contributing as quickly as possible, also setting him up for a long, hard season, so we’ve got to get that balance right over the week or two to come.”

Regarding Hutchinson, a £35 million transfer target of Brentford and Nottingham Forest, McKenna said: “He’s not very well, he had a throat infection. Nothing untoward or anything.

“He was in training Monday and Tuesday getting ready for the game, but had to go home with a temperature and a throat infection and hopefully he’ll recover over the weekend.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Fatboy added 23:40 - Aug 8 I'm a bit confused as to why Cajuste didn't have a proper pre-season with Napoli. I know he was unlikely to play for them this season, but as one of their players surely he has been training with them?
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Van_Blue added 23:45 - Aug 8 I don't know, but maybe he trained but did not play in any pre-season games so not upto the speed of the game.
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ArnieM added 00:16 - Aug 9 I think Cajuste has spent most of the summer going round various clubs who showed an interest. It doesn't surprise me in the least hes not had a very good pre season. This is one of the problems of taking so long to get players through the door. It'll take them a few weeks to get up to speed. This really wasn't been a stunning summer transfer window to date, in my view. Here's hoping it picks up in what remains left of the window.

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nevergoblue added 01:23 - Aug 9 Blimey, you guys. Don't over think these things, he's just signed, he's not match fit, give him a week or so and he will be fine.
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GTRKing added 02:17 - Aug 9 Hutchinson throat infection wonder what he’s been doing lol hope he don’t pass it onto anyone else lol! I hope he stays! Let’s see what happens
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