Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna has disclosed that defender Axel Tuanzebe could be out for several months after a severe home accident nearly led to the loss of his thumb.

The 26-year-old former Manchester United defender, who missed the 4-1 defeat to West Ham, has had surgery on his thumb and is facing a lengthy recovery period.

"It's a household accident - very, very unfortunate and very, very serious," McKenna explained. "He was very close to losing his thumb.

"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.

"Of course, it's a loss and a miss. It shows how quickly things can change in football and in life. Thankfully he's recovering well. The timescale is not definite.

"It could be anything from a few months, maybe a little bit less if the recovery goes well and that's something we're in dialogue with different specialists on."

Ipswich, who have yet to secure their first win since their return to the top flight, will face Everton on Saturday after drawing four and losing three of their first seven games.

The Toffees, just one point and one place above Ipswich in 16th, are keen on breaking their winless streak at Portman Road, but boss McKenna doesn't intend to burden his players with extra pressure. He expressed his "clear belief" in Omari Hutchinson's optimal role as the team gears up for upcoming fixtures.

Last season, while on loan, Hutchinson played predominantly on the right wing, but since his permanent transfer from Chelsea this summer after an PS18 million deal-a record for Ipswich-he's been plying his trade more centrally.

While on England Under-21 duty last Tuesday, Hutchinson returned to the flank, contributing to four of the goals in a dominant 7-0 victory against Azerbaijan. Yet, when asked if that performance led him to reconsider Hutchinson's primary position, McKenna stated: "Not in Omari's case, to be honest. He's been here for 16 months."

He elaborated on Hutchinson's experience: "He made around 40 appearances for us last year, maybe 20 of them were as a right winger, maybe close to 20 were as a right 10, with a handful as a left 10."

McKenna concluded by affirming their approach: "So we've seen Omari plenty in both positions and we've got a pretty clear belief in how we can make him most effective in different games and different scenarios."