Ipswich Town suffer major injury blow to key player ahead of Sunderland game

Ipswich Town look likely to be without goalkeeper Christian Walton for the clash against Sunderland on Sunday.

The Tractor Boys are due to face the Black Cats at the Stadium of Light in front of 40,000 plus fans this weekend,

However, Walton, who has been the club's first-choice goalkeeper missed Friday's pre-season games in Austria, with manager Kieran McKenna offering an explanation.

The Ipswich boss said: "He has a little problem in his plantar fasciitis (the tissue along the bottom of the foot) so we’ll have to see how he is next week."

Alan Nixon has reported that Town "could be without their number one for the first half dozen games" and Football League World have claimed that may put off newly-promoted Premier League club Luton Town making a transfer move for the 27-year-old during the summer window.

The East Anglian Daily Times state that cup keeper Vaclav Hladky is the most likely to replace Walton with Cieran Slicker another option.

Former Sunderland man Nathan Broadhead (quad) and Massimo Luongo (adductor) will also be assessed ahead of Sunday.