Kieran McKenna has provided a mixed injury update ahead of Sunday’s clash against Southampton
Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna has revealed that Jaden Philogene could return to action this weekend.
The winger was involved throughout pre-season after injuring his MCL against Chelsea back in April, but suffered a knock to his ankle in the final friendly against Auxerre, ruling him out of games against Birmingham City and Bromley.
However, he could be ready to feature against the Saints on Sunday, although it remains to be seen whether he’ll start or come off the bench.
Jaden Philogene has been back training
“He trained yesterday, so he made a good recovery,” McKenna said in his pre-match press conference. “He seems to be – touch wood – a quick healer, with a couple of little things that he’s had.
“How much involvement he’ll have, whether it’s from the bench or the start, or how many minutes, we’ll decide over the next 24 hours.
“He got through training yesterday, which was a big boost.”
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Midfielder Azor Matusiwa was absent against Bromley due to a groin issue, but that was seen as more of a precaution, with McKenna hopeful of having him ready to take on Will Still’s side.
“It was just a response to the increased load and intensity of the game on Friday night,” McKenna explained.
“It wasn’t a possibility to involve him on Tuesday night, but if he keeps improving in the right direction over the next 48 hours, he’ll be ready for involvement on Sunday.”
Town’s new signings – the returning Jens Cajuste and on-loan Ajax striker Chuba Akpom – aren’t struggling with knocks, but having had limited time to train and play over the summer, McKenna wants to be cautious despite the importance of Sunday’s crunch clash.
McKenna says the team need to be cautious with Chuba Akpom (left) and Jens Cajuste
“They aren’t ready to contribute as much as they would like on the match pitch,” he admitted. “That’s the truth.
“Both have had very disrupted or minimum pre-seasons, really. In Jens’ case, almost a minimum pre-season, so we’re working through that case at the moment with him, but he’s a naturally fit player with a lot of ability.
“Whether he can have some involvement this weekend, we’ll wait and see.
“Chuba, really disrupted pre-season followed by a week pigeoned up in a hotel, which isn’t ideal when you’ve had a really disrupted pre-season. He’s one we need to be really careful with.
“He trained with the group in the early part of the week but had some sort of muscle tightness and fatigue after those sessions, so we have to be really careful with how we progress him.
“We have to make decisions with a long-term view to the weekend, as much as it’s a really important game and we want players to contribute. We’ll make the right decision over the next 24 hours regarding what his contribution will be, and we’ll work to get him up to speed as quickly and safely as possible for a really big and busy season.
“Ideally they would both be arriving fully ready to play and start matches straight away, but that’s not been the case and that means we’ve got to manage the period in between as carefully as we can.”
As for long-term knocks, there’s no clear picture of when right-back Harry Clarke [knee] will be fit to return.
Harry Clarke is out with a knee injury
“It’s still a little bit up in the air, to be honest,” McKenna revealed. “It’s a tricky injury, so there’s a possibility it might not be too long and could be another few weeks, but there’s a possibility it could be longer. We’re hoping for the shorter scenario, but it’s still at a point where you can’t tell which way it will go.
Asked whether fellow full-back Conor Townsend will miss the 2025/26 campaign with an ACL injury, McKenna replied: “He had his surgery and all went well, so that was a positive. With that injury, you’re talking about that sort of timescale.
“Nothing is impossible, but realistically, it’s unlikely he’ll have much of a part to play this year.”
Finally, Wes Burns is still working hard to return from the ACL injury he suffered at Anfield back in January. The Welsh winger will have to be eased back into action, but McKenna is hopeful that he could be training in a few months’ time.
McKenna hopes to have Wes Burns back training in the Autumn
McKenna hopes to have Wes Burns back training in the Autumn
“There’s the return, then there’s ‘the return’ with these injuries, but he’s progressing really well and working hard, doing all the right things,” McKenna stated.
“Everything being smooth from here on in, hopefully he could be back training with the group some time in autumn before we go into the winter period, but of course there are different hurdles and steps to take along the way.
“We don’t want to put any pressure on the timescale on that one, it has to be right. We have to get the injury 100% and we’ll be really glad to have him back whenever that time comes.”
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