Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna says the inconvenience of international call-ups is something the club is going to have to get used to.

The Blues currently have seven players away representing their nations in the form of Nathan Broadhead, Wes Burns (both Wales), Sam Morsy (Egypt), Cameron Burgess (Australia), Elkan Baggott (Indonesia U23s), Cieran Slicker (Scotland U21s) and new Tottenham loanee Dane Scarlett (England U21s).

Morsy, whose father grew up in Cairo, has waited five years for his international recall, while Burgess, who lived in Australia from the age of 10-16, has been equally proud following his first-ever senior selection.

With the African Cup of Nations and AFC Asian Cup both taking place in January/February, there's potential for Ipswich to be without two key men for several games of the Championship season, perhaps more if Massimo Luongo can get himself back in the Australian fold.

"I'm delighted for all the players," said McKenna. "I think we should be proud as a club because it's not that long ago we didn't have any internationals.

"I know that Jack (Taylor) is close (with the Republic of Ireland) and I think we can all see that Massimo (Luongo) is knocking on that door very, very hard as well.

"If some of them go away to big tournaments then so be it. International tournaments, playing on Sundays and Monday nights, all these inconveniences are part of the modern game.

"This is 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 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.”

 

WHEN ARE THESE MAJOR TOURNAMENTS?

The African Cup of Nations will be held in the Ivory Coast from January 13 to February 11.

Ipswich face Sunderland (h), Leicester (a), Rotherham (h), Preston (a) and West Brom (h) during that period.

Egypt have already qualified as Group D winners ahead of their final match against Ethopia on Monday night.

The Pharoahs reached the final of the last African Cup of Nations, losing on penalties to Senegal back in February 2022.

The AFC Asian Cup will be held in Qatar during a very similar period - from January 21 to February 10.

Australia have already qualified after winning all eight of the Group B games.

The Socceroos reached the quarter-finals of the tournament last time around, exiting the competition with a 1-0 loss to the United Arab Emirates back in 2019.