Ipswich Town midfielder Lee Evans is set for ‘weeks’ on the sidelines with the knee injury he sustained in last Friday’s 1-0 home win against Derby County. 

Evans missed the back end of last season with a knee injury, but returned to action over the summer and has been one of Town’s best performers during a strong start to this campaign. 

“He’s got some damage to his medial ligament, not so serious that it will need surgery,” confirmed McKenna, speaking ahead of Saturday’s game at Charlton.  

“But it’s going to be a period of weeks for recovery. He’ll be in a knee brace for a few weeks and we’ll see how he’s recovering after that. 

“It’s a blow because he’s a very important player for us having a good season. He contributes on and off the ball and on set plays.  

“We’ll be looking forward to having him back, but, as we showed the other night (Dominic Ball and Cameron Humphreys starting in central midfield for a 3-2 win at Port Vale), the other boys in the squad are ready and have been working very hard behind the scenes to step up when their moment comes. That’s what we’re going to have to do as a squad.” 

Town skipper Sam Morsy is available again this weekend, after serving a one-game ban, while Kane Vincent-Young could return to the squad after recovering from a minor calf issue. 

“There are no issues from Tuesday night,” confirmed McKenna. 

“We had some cramps, which is unusual for us and shows how heavy the pitch was, but there is no big injury news since then.” 

Cameron Burgess and Panutche Camara have both returned to action ahead of schedule in recent weeks, but Greg Leigh (leg fracture), Sone Aluko (knee) and Gassan Ahadme (foot fracture) all remain sidelined. 

“I don’t have a very strong update on that one,” said Mckenna, when asked about striker Ahadme. 

“He’s shown some improvement in the bone recovery, but it has not fully healed yet. It will be another couple of weeks yet before he back on the grass in a meaningful way.”