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Ipswich Town defender Axel Tuanzebe came “very close” to losing his thumb in a freak accident that will sideline him for “months”, says manager Kieran McKenna.<\/b><\/p>\n
The former Manchester United centre-back sustained a deep cut to his thumb<\/a> while he was washing dishes at his home in early October. <\/p>\n The 26-year-old DR Congo international, who had started all six of Ipswich’s Premier League matches until the injury kept him out of a 4-1 defeat by West Ham on 5 October, had surgery on his hand last week.<\/p>\n “It’s a household accident – very, very unfortunate and very, very serious,” McKenna said. <\/p>\n “He was very close to losing his thumb. He\u2019s had surgery to repair the tendons in the thumb that was damaged; I think the recovery is going pretty well, but it\u2019s a long-term injury.<\/p>\n “As much as it sounds a pretty innocuous body part regards the game of football, it\u2019s a pretty important body part in human anatomy. He needs to let it recover.”<\/p>\n The Tractor Boys are without a win in their first seven Premier League fixtures since earning promotion back to the top flight.<\/p>\n Everton, who are one point and one place above Ipswich in 16th, visit Portman Road on Saturday (15:00 BST).<\/p>\n