Ipswich Town: Sammie Szmodics to be assessed ahead of Aston Villa trip with goalkeeper Alex Palmer in frame to make Premier League debut
An Ipswich Town attacker is set to be assessed ahead of the club’s trip to face Aston Villa with a goalkeeper in the frame to make his Premier League debut.
Sammie Szmodics might be involved against the Villains on Saturday (3pm) after the ankle problem he aggravated at Coventry last weekend in the FA Cup proved to be less serious than originally feared.
The 29-year-old was back in Kieran McKenna’s side against the Sky Blues but came off in the first half after he hurt the ankle which had kept him out for the previous month.
McKenna said: “Sam Szmodics, thankfully, the ankle injury he had a recurrence of last week hasn’t been too serious, so he’s going to be a judgement call tomorrow whether he’s going to play against Aston Villa or not.”
Conor Chaplin looks set to remain on the sidelines with a knee injury that he’s had since December, but McKenna is hopeful he’ll be back training next week.
"He's had a few little setbacks. With an MCL injury you can get that,” the Blues boss said.
“You can get to the very, very last bit of your rehab, but there's a few actions or a few movements that can sometimes still stir it up.
"He's had a slightly different course of treatment this week to see if that can accelerate it a little bit because he's not quite been able to meet that last hurdle. Fingers crossed he'll be back with the group next week."
McKenna said he was pleased to hand deadline day signing Alex Palmer his debut against Coventry and gave his thoughts on the former West Brom man’s display between the sticks.
“He did well, did everything you’d want, really,” he said.
“He had to pick the ball out of the net probably with his first touch, which is never ideal, but nothing he could do on that.
“But after that, he communicated well with the backline, he distributed well and he made some good saves.
“It was the perfect game to bring him into and he’s trained well this week as well.”
Palmer, who made 104 starts for Championship side West Brom, jointly won the Sky Bet Championship Golden Glove last season with 18 clean sheets alongside Illan Meslier of Leeds.
When asked if the 28-year-old shotstopper would make his Premier League debut against Villa, McKenna said: “It’s a possibility.
“It gives us a stronger department. With Christian (Walton) out it gives us Alex and Aro (Muric) and Cieran Slicker, two more experienced goalkeepers, one younger goalkeeper but it gives us the type of options we want and we’ll pick what we think is right for each game.”
Walton (groin), Wes Burns (knee), and Chiedozie Ogbene (Achilles) remain long-term absentees.
