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Manager confirms midfield injury blow ahead of Leeds v Ipswich
By Danny Wright
Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy has ruled midfielder Flynn Downes out of Saturday’s clash with Leeds United at Elland Road with a thigh injury.
Downes, 18, has featured regularly in the first-team this season at Portman Road, appearing in all but one of their matches so far across all competitions.
However McCarthy has now admitted that his Ipswich squad has taken a blow to their midfield options ahead of their trip to Yorkshire with Downes out of action.
“Flynn Downes won’t be playing, though. He’s tweaked his thigh. Luke Hyam trained this morning, but had to leave early,” he said in his pre-match press conference on Thursday, as quoted on Ipswich’s official Twitter account.
MM: "Flynn Downes won't be playing, though. He's tweaked his thigh. Luke Hyam trained this morning, but had to leave early."
— Ipswich Town FC (@Official_ITFC) September 21, 2017
Downes only made his senior debut for the Suffolk side in August, but has since kept his spot in the squad and has appeared eight times across all competitions, supplying one assist in the process.
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Ipswich’s loss is no doubt Leeds’ gain, as Thomas Christiansen’s men will be looking to bounce back to winning ways in the Championship and continuing to strengthen their grasp on the top spot in the table.
After last weekend’s loss at Millwall, the Whites had a welcome midweek boost by way of a penalty shoot-out win over Burnley in the Carabao Cup.
The Whites are expected to make wholesale changes to their squad as they return to league action this weekend, but Christiansnen has injury concerns of his own, especially in defence as Pontus Jansson and Liam Cooper are both touch and go for the tie.
In other Leeds United news, this 27-year-old has admitted that he is likely to face the axe on Saturday.
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