Greg Leigh is facing ‘a lengthy spell’ on the sidelines after suffering a compression fracture to his leg.

The defender, who was due to be away on international duty with Jamaica this week, suffered an injury late in the Blues’ 2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday.

Scans confirmed it was more severe than first-thought, meaning the left-back will now face several months out.

“He unfortunately picked something up at the back end of the Sheffield Wednesday game, which was initially thought to be bone bruising,” manager Kieran McKenna said. “At that point it was touch-and-go whether he was going to go away for international duty.

“He’s had some scans this week, just to make sure, and unfortunately he has a compression fracture of his leg and will be out for a longer period of time. That’s a disappointing one for Greg and for us as well.

“He’s going to have a lengthy spell on the sidelines, more likely months but hopefully not a long period of months. That depends on the bone healing over the next six weeks, so it’s very much recovery to let it heal, then we’ll be checking and we’re hopeful it’s a short period of months.

“We still have Sone (Aluko) and Panutche (Camara) still returning from their injuries. Gassan (Ahadme) has missed training this week through illness and is touch-and-go whether he will travel.”

On the impact of Leigh’s injury, which comes at a time when the former Morecambe man and Leif Davis have combined superbly while sharing the left-back role, McKenna said: “The balance was what we’d hoped it would be with a young player (Davis) coming in with high potential but not many starts balanced off with a more experienced player (Leigh) who had been in the league with a few different clubs.

“We had a really good balance there and we’re disappointed for Greg because it’s happened at a good moment in his career, when he was progressing international and had made a big step by coming to Ipswich.

“He had risen to it but injury is part of the game, he understands that.”

Discussing injuries further, McKenna said: “We’ve been a little bit unlucky at the moment because that’s Sone, Greg and Cameron all picking up innocuous contact injuries which are hard to predict and impossible to avoid.

“That’s three major ones in the last month, but that’s why we have a strong squad so we can deal with the rigours of the season. It’s come quicker than we might have expected but we’re comfortable with what we have because we have plenty of versatile players with quality and experience.

“Overall we have a great hunger in the squad to do well so I’m confident we’ll find the right solutions in the games coming up.”

Asked if Cameron Humphreys could be used to help fill the gap left by Leigh, McKenna said: "It's a possibility but not one we have looked at with him yet.

"All of his football with me so far has been in central midfield or a bit further forward - he's been very capable with those. But it's a possibility for him.

"We have Kane Vincent-Young who is very experienced and capable in that position, so we have good options and good versatility in the squad."

Meanwhile, McKenna hopes to have Cameron Burgess available again in six weeks.

The centre-back has undergone successful surgery for facial injuries suffered in the victory over Bristol Rovers, which has seen a metal plate and screws inserted into his skull to help heal a number of fractures.

“There were a couple of different fractures, but mostly in and around the cheekbone were the most significant,” McKenna said.

“He’s had a metal plate put in there which has a really good success rate and gives really good security and confidence to the area. The recovery from an injury like that isn’t actually as bad as you might expect when you see the significance of the injury, so that’s a positive.”

Discussing a potential return date, McKenna said: “He’s had some metal plates in the area and I think hopefully he’ll be able to return to training within around the six-week mark.

“Of course, it’s early days, so there’s some flexibility around that, but in and around hopefully six weeks he’ll be able to start returning to some training with the group.

“Of course, you never know how a recovery goes, but if all goes smoothly, it shouldn’t be too long before he’s able to resume some light training and not too long after that before he’s able to get back involved with the group.”