Town boss Kieran McKenna says midfielder Azor Matusiwa is in a better place and Leif Davis is back training with the squad ahead of Sunday’s top-of-the-table home clash with Middlesbrough, but with Wes Burns still sidelined.

Matusiwa suffered a dead leg in the 2-1 Easter Monday victory over Birmingham City, which has continued to hamper the Dutchman, who was subbed in the 58th minute of Tuesday’s 2-0 loss at Portsmouth.

“I think he’s in a better place,” McKenna said. “Day by day it’s getting better, so he’s in a better place now than he was a week ago. That’s it, he’ll hopefully be available for the squad.”

Regarding Burns, who suffered a calf problem in the Sheffield Wednesday match just over a month ago, McKenna confirmed the Welshman will again miss out.

“No, he’s not too far away,” he added. “It’s just that the last little hurdle is tricky, especially when coming back from an injury and he’s just had a little setback in his recovery. It’s not anything major, but he’s just not quite been able to make that last step yet.

“Again, it’s day by day, he won’t make it to train with the group tomorrow, which rules him out for Sunday and we’ll see how he is again on Monday.”

Davis missed the trip to Fratton Park as his partner had given birth to their first child but the left-back has been back with the squad.

“He’s been training with us for the last few days,” McKenna continued. “A little bit more tired as most new fathers are, but he’s trained with the group for the last few days.”

Davis, almost ever-present since joining the club in the summer of 2022, had only just returned for the East Anglian derby win at Norwich last Saturday following his controversial three-match ban for a hair-pull.

“It’s been tricky, no doubt about it,” McKenna admitted. “He’s obviously a really important player for us. Tuesday, it is what it is, it was the right thing for him to be there to support and for them to go through that together, and it was a brilliant moment for them.

“We’re delighted to have him back in the squad now for Sunday and he probably hasn’t had as many minutes in the last six weeks as you’d want, but on the other hand he should be nice and fresh and we’ve got lots of games coming up. We’re going to need a big, big output from Leif.”

McKenna says there are no new injury issues going into Sunday’s game: “No, just Conor Townsend [ACL] more long-term and Wes with his little injury, other than that everyone’s trained today and is ready to go.”

Photo: Matchday Images