Ipswich Town loanee Kyle Edwards ruled out with hamstring injury

The Ipswich Town loanee missed the 3-1 win at Stevenage on Saturday after suffering the injury during training on Thursday.

Edwards though had made a bright start to life at United, scoring two goals in four appearances across all competitions.

Manning revealed the extent of Edwards’ injury yesterday afternoon, saying: “He’s going to be out for a considerable amount of time.

“We’re not expecting to see him for the best part of around six to eight weeks.

“He’s out for the foreseeable, which is a bit of a blow.

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“I’m hugely disappointed for him, but also for us. He’s come in and had a terrific impact, but as I’ve said before, it opens up a slot for somebody else to grab that opportunity.

“He’s been great for us and we’ll look forward to getting him back, but it’s now about who’s going to step up and shoulder that?

“It’s a blow to lose him and I’m sure we’ll get another injury over the course of the season, but now it’s how do we respond and who steps in moving forward?”

As Manning said himself, Edwards’ unavailability will create opportunities for other players to get more starts and minutes under their belt.

One of those will undoubtedly be Josh Murphy, who has only featured in Sky Bet League One this season in the last two games.

Having been left out of matchday squads and restricted to playing in cup competitions, Murphy has displayed his talent by making important contributions from the bench against Exeter City and Stevenage.

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Manning said: “I have to give Josh a huge amount of credit. It’s no secret the conversation I had with him in the summer and to be fair to him, he’s come back with a point to prove.

“He wasn’t in the first few squads, which some players won’t respond well to or spit their dummy out.

“To be fair to Josh, he definitely didn’t do any of that. He kept his head down and kept working, and kept chipping away at it.

“His attitude in training and his professionalism was excellent.

“What for me that then does is if anyone’s here and they’re doing things properly, and they earn it, why wouldn’t I pick somebody if it will benefit the team?

“They’re the conversations, and I have a good relationship with Josh – we talk regularly and I’m really pleased for him that he’s come in and had the impact he’s had.

“It’s now about building on that. If we can have everybody in the squad with the same attitude and the same application, that for me is what competition is.”

On the talks between himself and Murphy during the summer, Manning added: “The discussion was never that he had to leave. It was always that we were going to bring in bodies and competition is going to be high.

“That was always the conversation and to be fair to Josh, he was the one that wanted the challenge and wanted to fight.”