Town boss Kieran McKenna expects Sammie Szmodics to return from his knee surgery during the games after the next international break, while is hopeful Chuba Akpom will be available for Saturday’s match at QPR.

The duo, the Blues’ two number 10s, both suffered knocks in last weekend’s 1-0 home victory over West Brom, the on-loan Ajax man replacing the Irish international, who had been on the end of a heavy tackle early on, in the first half before making way himself in the second after taking the underside of a boot to his shin/ankle area.
 
“Sam’s had his surgery, thankfully it’s not a very, very big surgery,” McKenna said. “He’s going to be out for a good number of weeks, but hopefully after the international break, in that next block of games, we’ll see him at some point.
 
“And Chuba’s was a really heavy impact injury, so a lot of swelling and a lot of pain. He missed a few days of training but hopefully, come Saturday, he’ll be ready to be involved in the squad.”

McKenna also hinted that one or two other players may have had fitness issues over the course of the week: A few little injuries that we've had to try and address and get on top of.”

Having revealed he had undergone surgery yesterday, Szmodics then hit out at “hate messages” he had received recently from Irish fans unhappy that he had pulled out of three Irish squads this year, then, in the case of the last two, then played for Town in their next match.

“Sammie, I think it’s known he had an ankle operation in the summer, that’s his first operation, he’s done well to get to 30 without anything,” McKenna added.

“When you have an operation it’s not always a case that you’re back and then you’re fine. Certainly with a joint issue like that, you’re often managing a certain level of pain, you’re often managing a certain level of swelling and there’s a certain threshold that when you try and put the body past you can get a big flare-up.

“I don’t need to explain every situation for him, I know Sammie’s a really committed professional, wants to do well for his club, wants to do well for his country.

“I can speak specifically about the last international break. He was involved at the weekend against Norwich, but had a lot of swelling afterwards and needed to get an injection and have nine-to-10 days off his feet or else he wouldn’t be any use to club or country in the period coming up because the ankle was going past the threshold of what it was coping with.

“So he needed and took the nine-to-10 days and was available for the period after the international break.

“It’s disappointing now that he’s picked up a separate issue from the contact injury that he had last weekend, but I know Sammie’s really committed to doing well for himself, really committed to his club, really committed to his country, disappointed that he’s missed a couple of games, he never wants to miss a game for us for Ireland.

“But, certainly in terms of any messages or anything like that, it’s shouldn’t happen and we’ve got no doubts on Sammie as a professional or his commitment to his craft.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Tractorboy58 added 16:15 - Oct 30 Good to hear - looking forward to his return
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jas0999 added 16:37 - Oct 30 Great news. Feared it could have been far worse for Sammie but let’s hope operation is successful And a full recovery made as quickly as possible.
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