With their promotion hopes hanging by a thread, Ipswich Town have been dealt a double injury blow with the news that neither David McGoldrick nor Luke Hyam will play any part in the final five matches.
Both players have suffered injury set-backs in training, Hyam twisting his knee last week and McGoldrick’s troublesome thigh problem flaring up on Saturday.
And we understand that the duo – who have been working hard on their rehab work in a desperate attempt to return for a last big push – have both now been told to set their sights on being fully fit for pre-season.
Tenacious midfielder Hyam started 58 out of 83 games under Mick McCarthy’s management in the 2012/13 and 2013/14 campaigns but a series of injuries – including hip and Achilles problems – has limited him to just 16 starts this season, his last appearance coming in the 1-0 FA Cup defeat against Southampton on January 14.
McGoldrick scored an impressive 16 goals before a cruciate knee ligament injury cut short his 13/14 season in mid-February. The clever striker returned to action on the eve of this season but struggled to rediscover his previous devastating form and has missed the last 12 matches with a recurring thigh problem.
McCarthy has admitted to initially downplaying McGoldrick’s injury so as not to weaken his hand in the transfer market. It was always going to be a minimum of six weeks on the sidelines and has now ended up being even longer than first anticipated.
Ipswich dropped to eighth in the Championship table, three points adrift of the play-off places, following their 2-1 defeat at Huddersfield on Monday. Their five game run-in starts on Saturday with the visit of rock-bottom and already relegated Blackpool (who have drawn their last three matches) and continues with another home game, against 13th-place Cardiff, next Tuesday. Then follows Wolves (a), Nottingham Forest (h) and Blackburn (a).
The Blues have left-back Tyrone Mings available again following a two-game suspension, while the physios are monitoring the progress of Jonathan Parr (hamstring) and Kevin Bru (calf).
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