Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy says his side are missing the ‘blood and thunder’ of injured midfielder Luke Hyam.

The 23-year-old has been sidelined with a knee injury since the FA Cup replay defeat to Southampton in January with no time frame put on a possible return to action.

The Ipswich-born, former Northgate High School pupil – hailed as ‘one of our own’ by supporters – sat in the away end Carrow Road recently to watch his team suffer a 2-0 East Anglian derby defeat against rivals Norwich.

Town slipped out of the play-off places for the first time November this week, their 2-1 loss at Leeds on Wednesday meaning their form for 2015 reads: P13 W4 D2 L7.

On Hyam – who has started 74 of McCarthy’s 121 games in charge – the Blues boss said: “When it’s going well it’s ‘he’s one of our own’. When he gives the ball away he’s b*******! I don’t like that mentality.

“But he is one of their own and he is a fabulous asset to the club, Luke. I was just walking out to training with TC (assistant Terry Connor) today and I said ‘we could do with Hyamsy, couldn’t we?’.

“We could do with a bit of that blood and thunder that he adds. He’s a quiet lad but he belies all that quiet image when he plays because he’s a proper footballer and I really like him. He’d be great to have for the run-in – but we haven’t got him.”

McCarthy says he’s not sure how long the academy graduate will remain on the sidelines. He said: “I don’t know, as long as it takes. I haven’t got a definitive time.

“We said it was going to be six to eight weeks at the time. I don’t know how long it’s been but it’s just proved very difficult.”

He added: “It’s one of them with his knee. If he gets an improvement, he could be coming to me next week saying; ‘Gaffer, it might be two weeks’ and we might have him for the remainder. But it’s just proved really difficult. He’s really down about it.”