Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy has admitted Teddy Bishop’s season-ending hamstring injury could see him move for a midfielder during the January transfer window.

Bishop was forced off before half-time in the Blues’ Boxing Day draw with Queens Park Rangers and now requires surgery, with the youngster the latest in a string of midfield injuries which has seen McCarthy without eight central options in recent games.

The Blues boss admitted bringing in a new midfielder has moved up his priority list heading into the January window, while also revealing just how hard Bishop’s latest set-back has hit everyone at the club.

“It’s desperately sad for him, for me, the team, the fans, everybody, because he looked like he was getting back to his best,” McCarthy said.

“I thought he showed glimpses against QPR on Boxing Day of how he uses the ball, drifts past people and bursts into space to create openings. It’s really sad because he’s had a tough couple of years.

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“It certainly focuses all our minds on that position because we’ve lost so many.

“It will still be nice to have (Cole) Skusey back, Flynn (Downes) and Tristan (Nydam) and it probably has become more important that we look round and see that we can get somebody for that position.”

Bishop’s current contract with the Blues expires in the summer, with the club holding an option to extend it for another year, although McCarthy is unsure at this stage how his injury will impact that situation.

“It’s a worry for him, not for the club because the option is in the club’s favour,” McCarthy said. “I don’t decide on those things.

“Any football club has to be sure the player is fit before they do anything with him – we can’t let him go.

“Teddy has missed a lot of football but if we can get him fit he’s such a wonderful player. I don’t know how it affects that – it affects him because he won’t be fit until the pre-season.”

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McCarthy also admitted Bishop’s injury could mean Kevin Bru remains with the club for the rest of the campaign, having previously been given the green light to move on, with the Blues boss insisting any new midfield signing would need to be an upgrade on the Mauritius international.

“The injuries we have might change our opinion with Kevin,” McCarthy said. “He has done great whenever’s he’s played and is here until the end of the season.

“That might be in my thought process more than going and getting someone because to go out and get someone who is better than Kevin Bru - one might be expensive and two might not be available.”