Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna has confirmed that Sammie Szmodics is an injury doubt for tomorrow’s match against Sheffield United.
The attacker went away with the Republic of Ireland during the recent international break, playing 78 minutes of their first game at home to Hungary.
He subsequently revealed on Instagram that he dropped out of the squad with a knock, missing their 2-1 defeat to Armenia as a result.
“He’s recovering, so we don’t know yet for Friday night,” McKenna said.
“He had some swelling in the ankle that he had surgery on in the summer after the game, so it would have been impossible for him to be involved for Ireland.
“He hasn’t been training with us yet, but he’s back doing some work with the rehabilitation coaches. We’ll make an assessment in the morning.
“He obviously hasn’t missed a lot of time, so it’s not impossible that he could play, but we’ll have to see how he recovers from the work he did today.”
Summer signing Marcelino Nunez is in line for his first minutes since making his £7.5m switch across the East Anglian border, having signed from Norwich City towards the end of the summer transfer window.
The midfielder was nursing an ankle injury when he first arrived in Suffolk, but asked whether he would be fit to feature against the Blades, McKenna replied: “Yeah, he trained from Monday onwards with the group this week.
“He’s missed a few weeks, but he’s ready to be involved.
“He’s a high-quality player, an experienced player. He’s a player with real quality, and you can see the quality there. He’s definitely going to bring some good things to us.”
Harry Clarke [knee ligament] missed a chunk of pre-season and the start of the campaign, while Cameron Humphreys [calf] was absent against Derby County before the international break.
McKenna provided a positive update on the pair, leaving Town’s squad in a strong position.
“Both back with the group,” he stated. “Both have trained this week. It’s a real positive.
“The squad is looking really, really strong, I have to say.” Health is good and the spirit has been excellent in the last few days, especially since yesterday when the whole group got back together.
“We’re in a pretty good place.”
