Toto Nsiala may need to leave Ipswich Town in order to play regular football, boss Kieran McKenna has conceded.

The centre-half is on the verge of joining Fleetwood Town, with Cambridge and Shrewsbury also showing interest in the 29-year-old.

He’s not featured in either of McKenna’s two games in charge and, with his contract up this summer, looks set to move on at a time when he appears to sit behind George Edmundson, Luke Woolfenden, Janoi Donacien and Cameron Burgess in the pecking order.

“Toto’s probably one in the bracket of a really experienced player, has worked hard here for a couple of years,” McKenna said this lunchtime. “He’s been a good lad since I came in and has been getting his down in training.

“But he’s one who’s coming towards the end of his contract, who is going to want to play football and needs to play football and wants games.

“He’s one who I think has been looking at his options and we’ve had conversations with. Nothing has been announced or I’ve been told about anything being formalised as yet.

“Let’s see what happens at the moment. He’s an Ipswich Town player and we’ll see what happens in the future.”

When asked about the possibility of further departures from Portman Road this month, McKenna insisted he isn’t pushing anyone to the exit.

“It’s not that anybody has to go, the club have been clear to me with that and there’s no requirement to get anybody out,” he said.

“The club are happy to sustain a big squad to the end of the season to make sure we have plenty of cover, so we don’t need to lose anybody.

“Even from my point of view, there’s not been anyone who has been a problem. As I’ve said all along, the spirit has been really good over the last couple of weeks, nobody has been an issue, so I’m not looking to force anybody out.

“So as long as everybody respects the group and works for the group and trains well, then they’re all a part of the club as far as I see it.”

He can see a scenario when players not central to his plans might see a move away from Ipswich as their best option, though.

He said: “There might come a point where players from their own perspective, if they feel like it’s going to be tough for them to get the opportunities that they want and they feel like it’s going to be better for their own careers to get games elsewhere.

“Whether that’s in a short-term way or for the longer term, then we will have the conversation with them and we will be open.

“And if it’s the right thing for the player and the right thing for the club, then it’s a possibility that that might happen in a few cases.

“But it’s not been driven by the club, it’s not been driven by me at the moment. I’m not desperate for people to go, I’m happy working with a big squad and enjoying the challenge of keeping them all motivated and keeping them all happy and getting them what they need in training.

“There are players who are hungry to play and it’s maybe more realistic perhaps that some of them might want to pursue other avenues and that’s a conversation we’ll have with players on an individual basis.”