Axel Tuanzebe came “very close” to losing his thumb in a freak accident, Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna has confirmed.
Tuanzebe missed Ipswich’s 4-1 defeat by West Ham prior to the international break after badly cutting his thumb on a broken glass while doing the washing up at his home.
The former Manchester United defender had surgery on his hand last week and is now to set be sidelined for a few months.
“It’s a household accident, very, very unfortunate and very, very serious,” McKenna said at his pre-match press conference ahead of Ipswich’s Premier League meeting with Everton on Saturday.
“He’s had surgery to repair the tendons in the thumb that was damaged. I think the recovery is going pretty well, but it’s a long-term injury.
“As much as it sounds a pretty innocuous body part regards the game of football, it’s a pretty important body part in human anatomy. He needs to let it recover.”
Tuanzebe started all of Ipswich’s first six Premier League games of the season after their first return to the top-flight in 22 years and McKenna admitted the centre-back would be missed.
“Of course it’s a loss and a miss,” he added. “It shows how quickly things can change in football and in life. Thankfully he’s recovering well. We have to adapt and improve as a team. We look forward to having him back when he’s ready.
“The timescale is not definite. It could be a few months, maybe less if the recovery goes well. That’s something we’re still in dialogue with specialists about.”
