Town boss Kieran McKenna expects left-back Leif Davis to be OK to face Huddersfield at the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday, while keeper Christian Walton and new central defender Axel Tuanzebe are a week away from being considered for matches.

Davis aggravated the ankle injury he suffered at Sheffield Wednesday during last weekend’s 4-3 victory over Blackburn and wasn’t in the 20-man squad for the 3-2 Carabao Cup victory over Wolves in midweek, but McKenna says the former Leeds man ought to be fine for the trip to West Yorkshire.

“He should be OK,” he said. “He was touch and go for Tuesday night but he seems much better over the last 48 hours, so we’re hopeful that he might be involved on Saturday.”

Tuanzebe joined the Blues earlier this month having left Manchester United at the end of last season and has been taking part in his own pre-season as he looks to get up to speed following a back injury.

“Not too far, this is probably the last week really before we start to consider him for match action,” McKenna said of the 25-year-old.

“He’s been training well, he had a check-up with the specialist on Tuesday, which he had a good report from, so he’s training well and contributing to the group.

“I think from next week, we’ll consider him to be available for matches. Of course, at the moment, the other centre-halves are up and running and having good seasons, so he’s got some time now to really build up his match-type exposure.

“We’ll hopefully have a friendly in the international break, which will realistically be a really good chance to get some good minutes into him and try and have him available predominantly after the international break to come and help us when we think the time is right.”

Regarding Walton, who suffered a plantar fascia tear in pre-season, McKenna added: “We think, unless there are any changes, he’ll be available to be in the squad next week. He’s trained with the group this week.

“The medical team and Rene want him to complete one or two more really intense sessions and if he comes through them well, hopefully he’ll be available for the games next week.”

Walton’s availability will be a big boost for the Blues but equally will give McKenna a dilemma with Vaclav Hladky having impressed in the former Brighton man’a absence.

“It’s better to have those decisions to make,” McKenna said. “If we didn’t have a goalkeeper performing well at the moment, we’d probably be on fewer points than we’re on at the moment and the situation and the performances wouldn’t have been as good.

“It’s great to be in a position where Christian’s been a very good performer for us and Vaz has come into the team and is performing very well, and to have the two of them fit and available will be a boost for the strength of our squad for the many, many games that we’ve got coming up this season.”

Photo: Matchday Images

cfmoses added 15:19 - Sep 28 Every cog in the ITFC wheel appears to be working at a high level. The fitness of the squad is at an all time high. The coaching is world class. The analysts are clearly on the ball. And the CEO and Board are a tight knit team. Let us just all remember the Evans years and the transformation this club is currently enjoying. 1 Defeat in 30 games.
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Jugsy added 15:33 - Sep 28 Stick with Vaz, he's earned it.
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Linkboy13 added 15:52 - Sep 28 Playing in a team that's very forward thinking is always going to be difficult for a keeper who's going to be left exposed at times so in this respect Hladky has done superbly well and deserves to keep his place for the time being. But where we miss Walton is his dominance of the penalty area and for me he will always be number one keeper.
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magnus68 added 15:55 - Sep 28 Well Vaz might be doing great and make very good saves. At the same time he is sloppy when playing out the ball. Almost costed us the other game.
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shakytown added 01:40 - Sep 29 Cant wait to see Tuanzebe. I think he's going to be a big player for us.
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Len_Brennan added 04:40 - Sep 29 It is amazing to think how well we have done so far this season, without either of these two having even played yet. During the summer, the mere thoughts of having to play the first 8+ league games without Walton & the vitally important new quality centre half signing that we were going to make, would have filled us with dread. Our two highest wage earners. And yet here we are now wondering if either of them will be able to get into the starting XI when fully fit & ready to play, such have been the performances of those in possession of the shirt, in this case Hladky & Burgess. Both have stepped up & proven themselves at Championship level, admirably so, but ultimately the quality of Walton & Tuanzebe will tell; and like Clarke with Donacien, Luongo with Evans, Broadhead with Harness, Hirst with Ladapo, Williams with Leigh & Hutchinson with Edwards/Evans, these 2 genuine players who we like, having given their best & not let us down, will have to step aside to allow stronger, more able options come in and take our starting XI up another level. I suspect that the January transfer window will see another such strengthening, especially if we can maintain a challenge not only for a top six finish, but for an automatic spot, into the Christmas period.

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Len_Brennan added 04:57 - Sep 29 *Burns not Evans.
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MK1 added 05:17 - Sep 29 This is great news. We are going to need our squad throughout this season, so as many fit as possible is good. The medical, player care, fitness staff seem to be much better than the last lot. We always seemed to have the same players out for long periods. Every single part of the club has been looked at and improved beyond belief. Fantastic work by all those involved.
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Suffolkboy added 07:01 - Sep 29 Len B nails the very essence of our current success levels ; UNITY and purpose demonstrated from the very TOP down — inspires trust throughout ! As a Manager you are generally rewarded for what you give ( to those in your charge) by a generous payback in efforts and support from the team around . Don’t let us ever under estimate what M A and KM have brought to ITFC ! COYB

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Ipswichbusiness added 08:07 - Sep 29 Hladky has done very well for us this season, but, as others have said, Walton is the better ‘keeper (for his command of the box). You start with your best players.
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oldblue added 08:35 - Sep 29 Shaky town .. You mean you hope Tuanzebe is going to be good ..I hope he does as he will push Burgess and Wolfenden....you get players in your squad to push everyone else ..names mean nothing..performances do....Burgess has been quietly going about his business ..not getting the rave reviews..just doing a solid job providing a platform for others and defending well ..if he keeps fit and continues his form Tuanzebe will struggle to break in..either way we are in a strong position

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