Blackburn Rovers will be without Lewis Miller for a few weeks with a groin injury, whilst Ryan Hedges is facing 12 weeks out.
Miller was absent at Portman Road as Valerien Ismael's side were beaten 3-0. The defender further adds to their stacked injury list and will miss the next two games at a minimum. He had started every game for Rovers since September 27.
Hedges underwent surgery earlier this week after fracturing his fibula and whilst he's avoided the worst-case scenario of four months, he still faces a lengthy period out.
Kristi Montgomery is expected to miss at least four weeks with the shoulder injury sustained at Hull City too.
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There is hope Ryan Alebiosu will be available next week after the end of the Africa Cup of Nations. Otherwise, Andri Gudjohnsen, Ryoya Morishita, and Miller will be next back with the Hull City clash on January 31 a realistic target.
"We lost another player with injury, Lewis Miller," Ismael said.
"Lewis will take a couple of weeks, after the cup game, he was complaining about his groin.
"Ryan Hedges will be at least 12 weeks. We will have Ryan back soon.
"Andri will come back, Mori is close. We need another week, it's two other games and championships. We just need to go through this period now and then to work with what we've got available players.
"In two weeks' time, the squad he will look much, much better. But at the same time, the player won't be 100 per cent, so you need to manage them But at least we will have more bodies."
Ismael believes Rovers must focus on finding a way through this difficult period until their key players return. Though he knows that results are vital, he believes the root cause of their issues is the amount of players in the treatment room.
"We're losing players, you're not getting players in, so it's difficult, as I say," he continued.
"But as I say, we have to go through that period. We knew that since December, when we started to see that the player would have a long period of time with injuries.
"We just knew that, OK, now we have to stay strong. So it was clear that at some point, because he (Miller) played all the games so far, we could have problems.
"Hopefully, next week with Ryan coming back, the week after with two, three players coming back will be better.
"We now that it's just this gap. We just need to make sure we bridge that period. It's challenging, but at the same time, we need to get results."
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