Ipswich Town have suffered a major blow with the news Lee Evans is likely to be out for more than two months.
The midfielder picked up a knee injury in the first half of Town’s 1-1 draw with Cambridge and hasn’t played since, with his absence, along with injuries for Massimo Luongo, Dominic Ball and Panutche Camara, leaving Ipswich with only two fit central midfielders.
“Lee has seen a knee specialist and it’s a different injury in the other knee to the one he had earlier in the season,” manager Kieran McKenna said.
“He has picked that up and the estimation is eight to 10 weeks before he can return. Hopefully we see him before the end of the league season.
“It’s a blow because he’s an important player for us, but Cameron (Humphreys) coming in has been absolute credit to himself and to the club.
“His performances have been consistent and he’s given everything he can to the team.
“But any team in this league would miss Lee Evans for the periods of time we’ve missed him.”
Luongo has returned to training and is in contention for a place in the matchday squad this weekend, while Ball and Camara are stepping up their own recoveries ahead of potential returns in the coming weeks.
George Edmundson will again be absent this weekend, with an ankle injury still being assessed.
“He won’t be available tomorrow,” McKenna said of the centre-half. “He’s still not trained with the group but he’s having a scan and we’ll see what comes back.
“Massimo has trained today (Friday), which is a positive and there is a possibility he will be involved in the squad, but we need to make judgements on minutes.
Dominic and Panutche are progressing well on the grass. Hopefully things will look a lot better in a few weeks.”
