Ipswich Town vs Manchester United: George Hirst ruled out with knee injury but Omari Hutchinson, Jacob Greaves and Jack Taylor all back training while Kalvin Phillips to be assessed
Ipswich Town manager Kieran Mckenna has revealed striker George Hirst is set for another spell on the sidelines with a knee injury while midfielder Kalvin Phillips is set to be assessed for a niggling issue ahead of the visit of Manchester United on Sunday (4.30pm, Sky Sports).
The former Red Devils assistant manager and coach did have some positive news at his pre-match press conference ahead of facing his former employers for the first time though, with three players having returned to training following injuries to put themselves in contention for selection.
Arguably the biggest news of that trio is centre-back Jack Greaves, the summer signing from Hull City having been ruled out with a hamstring issues since before the 2-0 home defeat to Everton on October 19.
Midfielder Jack Taylor has similarly been watching on from the sidelines with a hamstring issue since that Everton match at Portman Road.
Versatile attacker Omari Hutchinson had been sent home from international duty with England Under-21s with what was revealed to be a bruised foot but has also returned to training at Playford Road.
Asked about the health of his squad followin the international break and how the returning players were, McKenna said: “Mostly okay, we’ve had one or two little issues since the last games. Kalvin’s had a little issue to be fair since the Leicester game so we’re going to have to check on him over the next 48 hours, and one or two others who’ve had a few little issues over the break.
“But I think those who have come back from international duty have all come back in good nick and everyone in that group has trained well over the last two days and should be available.”
Quizzed about striker Hirst, who had revealed a nasty cut above his eye on social media following the treatment he received at the very end of the victory at Tottenham Hotspur, McKenna revealed it was the knee he had assessed on the pitch previous to that in the game that had been the issue that will now keep him sidelined.
“George is going to be out for a while with the knee injury that he sustained at the end of the Tottenham game, I’m not exactly sure on the timescale, hopefully it’s not months and months but it’s certainly weeks and weeks so that’ll be monitored and scanned again, I think next week, and we’ll know how he is then.
“So that’s a loss of course and he’s been having a really good impact both when he started and when he came off the bench but now it’ll be an opportunity for other people to step up.”
He went on to add: “Jacob Greave’s trained with the squad this week so yes, we’ve got decisions to make on a few in that category. Jack Taylor is in a similar boat in that he’s trained with a group this week, so we’ve got decisions to make going into the game in terms of readiness and minutes and availability that we’ll make over the next 48 hours.”
Hirst’s injury follows the former Leicester City striker having had to watch on the first month of the season following undergoing knee surgery as a result of breaking down in a pre-season match against Fortuna Dusseldorf at Portman Road.
The 25-year-old returned to action in the 0-0 draw at Brighton on September 14.
It leaves Town with two fit senior out-and-out strikers, in Liam Delap and Ali Al-Hamadi.
The Suffolk side go into Sunday’s game off the back of a first Premier League win of the season, in the 2-1 victory away at Tottenham Hotspur almost two weeks ago which left the Blues one place and one point above the relegation zone.
Manchester United, who will be playing under new manager Ruben Amorim for the first time, lie 13th in the table with two wins from their last six matches, having beaten visiting Leicester City 3-0 last time out in Ruud van Nistelrooy’s last game in his interim spell in charge.