Kieran McKenna reveals alarming Ipswich Town injury situation as tussle with Leicester and Leeds intensifies | OneFootball

Ipswich Town's squad is being heavily tested by the number of injuries they are having to deal with in their push for promotion to the Premier League, says Kieran McKenna.

Despite a disappointing loss to Norwich City, at Carrow Road, in the East Anglian Derby in their last match, the Tractor Boys didn't fall behind too far in the race for the top two Championship spots.

While Leicester City found a late goal through Stephy Mavididi to get three points against Birmingham City, Leeds United lost to Coventry City. That latter result kept Ipswich in the top two, and still ahead of their closest challenger: Leeds (given Leicester's game in hand on them both).

One bonus that came from the loss to the Canaries was the fitness of Kieffer Moore. The Welsh forward was a major doubt for the game after McKenna revealed, in the pre-match press conference, that he had suffered a serious back spasm, after being taken off early against Southampton, as per EADT.

The forward was able to start the derby game, although he had little impact on the match.

With the injuries to the likes of Moore, Wes Burns, George Hirst, and others, piling up, the 37-year-old has revealed what affect this is having on his team.

Kieran McKenna on the injuries Ipswich have to deal with

McKenna's side face Watford on Wednesday night, and he has revealed that, because of the amount of injuries in the squad, many players are having to play through their niggling issues.

He said, via EADT: "The squad is pretty stretched. Burns, [Janoi] Donacien and Hirst are the only ones with long-term injuries. Some players are playing through injuries and are making themselves available."

Prior to the Norwich match, the Northern Irishman said that one of those players that is having to push through injury difficulties was January signing Ali Al-Hamadi.

He was the likely replacement for the Welsh international if he wasn't fit to start up front for Town, but the Iranian forward is also dealing with his own problems. McKenna said that Al-Hamadi is going to need to have surgery on his adductor in the summer.

In some slightly more positive news, the boss did reveal plans for the return of Burns and Hirst.

The former was forced to pull out of international duty after he injured his hamstring against Sheffield Wednesday; an injury which McKenna suspected might have kept him out for the rest of the season.

The latter also injured his hamstring, but his injury, which was a rupture, forced him to have surgery in order to fix it.

Burns was set for another scan this week, and after the results of that, McKenna is hoping to have him, and Hirst, back for the final three games of the season, after the two-week break between Middlesbrough (H) and Hull City (A).

Current injury crisis will force summer action from Ipswich owners

Town have coped well, so far, with all of these fitness issues that they are having to deal with. But, as it does for every team, an injury crisis further stresses the need for depth.

Whether they win promotion or not, Ipswich need to have adequate replacements in case members of their starting XI suffer serious injuries.

This will be harder to achieve in the Premier League, if they make it there, because the focus will likely switch to bringing in quality players to replace members of the current first team. But even that would build more depth into their side.

Sometimes it takes experiences like this for people to realise what needs to be done.