Skipper Sam Morsy could win his first international cap since 2018 this evening when Egypt take on Ethiopia in their final Africa Cup of Nations qualifying group match in Cairo.

Morsy won the most recent of his seven full caps as a sub against Eswatini in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in November 2018 having made his debut in 2016 and featuring in one of the Pharoahs’ matches at the 2018 World Cup.

Egypt have already qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations, which is being held in the Ivory Coast in January and February next year and take on Tunisia in a friendly on Tuesday.

Blues boss Kieran McKenna, speaking last week, says Morsy’s international recall is fully warranted.

“To have Samy back in the Egypt squad again [is] something that he's very proud of and thoroughly deserves.”

Morsy could miss up to five Town games if he is included in the Egypt squad for Africa Cup of Nations finals, while Australia and Indonesia will be at the Asian Cup finals in Qatar, which could potentially see Cameron Burgess, Massimo Luongo and Elkan Baggott away during the same period.

“That’s football,” McKenna shrugged when quizzed on that potential situation last week.

“If we want to be back in the Championship and beyond some day, then these inconveniences are part of modern football - international tournaments, playing on Sundays and Monday nights and all these things.

“That’s part of modern football and that’s the table that we want to be at, we want to have players getting that recognition and contributing in those tournaments because ultimately that will benefit the club.

“They’ll learn from the experiences, hopefully they’ll come back better players and hopefully that helps improve the group and helps everyone else get better.

“We’ll deal with those call-ups if they come, that’s part of trying to re-establish ourselves as a club and progressing as a club.”

The Blues have nine players away on international duty during this break, Morsy with Egypt, Burgess with Australia, Baggott with Indonesia’s U23s, Nathan Broadhead and Wes Burns with Wales, Cieran Slicker with the Scotland U21s, Dane Scarlett with England’s U21s, Rio Morgan with the Northern Ireland U19s and Woody Williamson with Scotland's U19s.

Meanwhile, Morsy missed out on the Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month award for August having been among those nominated yesterday.

The gong went to Norwich City’s Gabriel Sara, while Enzo Maresca of Leicester City was named Manager of the Month.

Former Town academy midfielder and coach Liam Manning, currently in charge of Oxford United, was selected as the League One Manager of the Month.

Photo: Matchday Images

d77sgw added 11:44 - Sep 8 So if we're missing 4 players (3 of whom are the backbone of our team) for 5 matches can we get any of the games postponed - or do we just have to suck it up?
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d77sgw added 11:47 - Sep 8 On a separate note, whilst I appreciate Leicester were top of the table, was the job Maresca did (with a squad full of ex-Prem players) really better than Lowe at Preston, Eustace at Brum, not to mention Keiron here?
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Help added 13:00 - Sep 8 Let's hope morsy wins the key battle on the pitch on derby day. That far more important
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Hipsterectomy added 15:13 - Sep 8 Smash him up on derby day for that
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Lion added 15:38 - Sep 8 Sam won't care about individual awards, he is a team player and the consummate professional. And if he doesn't get a cap for Egypt, well, they must have some hell of a good players!
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Northstandveteran added 17:05 - Sep 8 Best player on the list. Those who vote will soon be in De Nile.
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