Ipswich Town could be without as many as five players for Saturday's Premier League encounter against champions Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Wes Burns, Nathan Broadhead (both hamstring), George Hirst (knee) and Harry Clarke (Achilles) are all sidelined, the latter was forced off with his injury in last weekend's 2-0 defeat at home to Liverpool, while ex-Man City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric (calf) will be assessed ahead of kickoff.

Meanwhile, new loan signing Kalvin Phillips is ineligible to face his parent club Man City, but the Tractor Boys have been boosted by the news that Cameron Humphreys (thigh) is back in training after a brief spell on the sidelines.

Head coach Kieran McKenna has already made nine summer signings, at the time of writing, and Tractor Boys trio Sammie Szmodics, Ben Johnson and Jens Cajuste are all in contention to make their full debuts, with the latter set to be selected in the matchday squad for the first time after joining on loan from Napoli on Tuesday.

Ipswich are also hoping that striker Armando Broja and winger Jack Clarke will finalise their moves from Chelsea and Sunderland respectively in time to face Man City, although an immediate start for either is unlikely. Liam Delap, who was sold by the Citizens for an initial £15m earlier this summer, should therefore retain his place up front.

Should McKenna decided to stick with a four-man defence, Axel Tuanzebe will continue at right-back and play alongside Luke Woolfenden, Jacob Greaves and Leif Davis, but ex-West Ham United man Johnson could replace the former in defence, while he is also an option to play further forward on the right flank in the absence of Burns.

Captain Sam Morsy, Massimo Luongo, Conor Chaplin and Omari Hutchinson all started against Liverpool and are in contention to keep their places in the first XI on Saturday.

Ipswich Town possible starting lineup: Walton; Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Greaves, Davis; Morsy, Luongo; Johnson, Chaplin, Hutchinson; Delap

> Click here to see how Manchester City could line up for this contest

Written by
Oliver Thomas