Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has revealed that striker George Hirst has undergone knee surgery.

Hirst - who contributed seven goals and sevens assists during the Blues' Championship promotion season - suffered the injury in a friendly game against Fortuna Dusseldorf last month.

"He's had a surgery on his knee. It's not as bad as it could have been thankfully. It was a keyhole surgery," said McKenna, when asked for an update following this afternoon's pre-season win against Nice.

"There's a possibility of recovery of around eight weeks from the surgery.

"Of course it's not great news, of course it's a big loss. On the other hand it could have been more serious. It is what it is and he's started his recovery now."

Striker Ali Al-Hamadi got his first minutes of pre-season today having undergone adductor surgery in May.

"Look, there's no doubt the forward positions is one of the areas we're light across so it's good to have him back," said McKenna. "He was carrying an injury for a long time (before the surgery) and hasn't trained a lot with the team this summer, so for him to play 35 minutes today was a bit more than we ideally wanted. He'll be stronger for it though."

Another player currently sidelined is right-back Harry Clarke after he underwent surgery on both Achilles at the end of last season.

"He's not imminent to be honest," said McKenna. "He's had a frustrating time with the recovery. He's continuing to work and get advice, he's progressing in the gym, but he's not on the grass yet. Realistically it's going to be quite a few weeks before we see him training with the team."  

Town start their Premier League campaign with a home game against Liverpool next Saturday.