Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has been discussing the futures of goalkeepers Aro Muric and Cieran Slicker after neither were involved in this afternoon’s pre-season game in Austria.
Alex Palmer and Christian Walton both played a half each in the 4-1 win against FC Blau-Weiss Linz, with new signing David Button the other keeper involved in the warm-ups.
Muric, who was dropped midway through a difficult debut campaign for the Blues in the Premier League, has been with the squad at their training camp this week – but he wasn’t spotted at the ground. Scotland international Slicker, meanwhile, hasn’t been with the group this week.
“Aro’s just still working back from his (shoulder) injury, really,” said McKenna.
“He’s back in some training now, but he’s still getting there. So, yeah, he’s really not far away.
“The (goalkeeper) unit looks really strong. David Button’s had a great impact straight away, I have to say. Top, top goalkeeper.
“And Cieran Slicker is looking at options for loans. All being well, the plan would be for him to go and get some first team experience this year, which he’s definitely ready for.
“So we’ll see how that all pans out over the next few weeks. But it feels like a really strong department at the moment.”
Asked if there was a chance Muric could be part of his plans for the season ahead, McKenna replied: “Yeah, everything’s possible. Aro’s a really, really talented goalkeeper. He showed that in spells last year and in certain games last year.
“So, yeah, we have four senior goalkeepers at the moment and pre-season is there for people to compete. We need at least three really strong senior goalkeepers in the building. We’ll see how it plays out over the remainder of the summer.”
