Ipswich Town‘s hopes for automatic promotion back to the Premier League are far from over, but can suspension and injury ruin their chances?
After a set of results turning in their favour, they now sit just two points below Middlesbrough with a game in hand and above Millwall on goal difference in the Championship.
Still needing to play both of these teams at home, the promotion race is far from over. During this decisive stage, there may be a cause for concern with suspensions and injuries.
Wes Burns came off in the 74th minute, limping after being subbed on at halftime against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
Manager Kieran McKenna clarified it was a problem with his calf, but it was “too early to say how bad. We’ll see what the scan says.”
Marcelino Nunez is still set to be missing for the crucial home fixture against Millwall. He seemed to pull his hamstring against Leicester City, but continued playing and has been out of the squad list since.
Ashley Young is still out with a hip injury, leaving some senior leadership out of the team.
Cedric Kipre is suspended for the home next weekend as well.
After picking up his tenth yellow card away at Stoke City last Tuesday due to a controversial penalty decision in the dying minutes of the game, he triggered an automatic two-match ban.
Leif Davis will also miss this fixture but should be back for Middlesbrough at home next month.
He has received a three-match ban from the FA for violent conduct for an incident that occurred during the Leicester fixture last weekend.
Despite missing these key players for this Saturday, there are some silver linings.
Jadon Philogene returned for some minutes against Wednesday at Hillsborough, coming on to replace Wes Burns for the first time since his MCL knee injury.
In addition to this, Darnell Furlong, Anis Mehmeti and Azor Matusiwa escaped a two-match ban after not receiving a 10th yellow card at Wednesday on Saturday.
This leaves them definitely available for the Millwall game at the weekend.
Looking toward Saturday, for one of the biggest fixtures of the season so far, Ipswich will be missing some key players.
However, due to the depth of the squad, hopefully, they can keep their promotion campaign alive.
