Ipswich Town defender Axel Tuanzebe is set to miss a few months of action after almost losing his thumb.
The 26-year-old suffered the hand injury earlier this month and it was originally determined that he would be unavailable for at least a month.
Tuanzebe has featured heavily for the Tractor Boys on their return to the top table of English football for the first time in over 20 years.
The former Aston Villa man has played in six Premier League matches for Ipswich, with his most recent the 2-2 draw with the Champions League-competing Villans on September 29.
Since making the permanent switch from Manchester United to East Anglia in September 2023, Tuanzebe has featured on 27 occasions for the Tractor Boys, scoring once.
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"Very close to losing his thumb" - Ipswich boss discusses Tuanzebe injury
Speaking prior to Ipswich's 2-0 loss at Portman Road to relegation rivals Everton on Saturday afternoon, manager Kieran McKenna provided an update on the situation of Tuanzebe.
"It is a household accident - very, very unfortunate and very, very serious. He was very close to losing his thumb," explained the 38-year-old boss.
"He has had surgery to repair the tendons in the thumb that was damaged; I think the recovery is going pretty well, but it is a long-term injury.
"As much as it sounds a pretty innocuous body part regards the game of football, it is a pretty important body part in human anatomy. He needs to let it recover.
"Of course it is a loss and a miss. It shows how quickly things can change in football and in life. Thankfully he is recovering well. The timescale is not definite.
"It could be anything from a few months, maybe a little bit less if the recovery goes well and that is something we are in dialogue with different specialists on."
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How are Ipswich faring without Tuanzebe?
Since the four-goal thriller with Aston Villa at the end of September - Tuanzebe's most recent appearance - Ipswich have failed to collect any points.
The Tractor Boys were well beaten at the home of West Ham United in East London on October 5, when Michail Antonio opened the scoring for the Hammers within a minute.
Following October's international break, McKenna's troops were unable to get anything from a home clash with Everton, who secured a two-goal success courtesy of efforts from Iliman Ndiaye and Michael Keane.
After eight games of the Premier League campaign, Ipswich are languishing down in 17th position, still awaiting their maiden win of the league season.
Carter White
