City winger Luke Chadwick will be out of action for at least three to four weeks after having surgery on his injured knee. The 26-year-old forward had a clean-up operation on a deep gash to his knee after careering into an advertising hoarding at Portman Road in Sunday's 3-1 defeat by Ipswich Town, in which he scored the opening goal.

City winger Luke Chadwick will be out of action for at least three to four weeks after having surgery on his injured knee.

The 26-year-old forward - on loan from Stoke until January with a view to a permanent move - had a clean-up operation on a deep gash to his knee after careering into an advertising hoarding at Portman Road in Sunday's 3-1 defeat by Ipswich Town, in which he scored the opening goal.

Chadwick was kept in hospital in Ipswich for a second night and was expected to be discharged today.

City manager Peter Grant revealed last night that the cut went through to the kneecap - and club physiotherapist Neal Reynolds said the player had been fortunate to escape a much worse injury.

Said Grant: “Luke's doing all right, but the cut was that deep, it had to be cleaned out.

“He should be home today and he'll have to rest a few days because we can't take a chance with it. The cut went right through on to the kneecap.

“It's a big disappointment for Luke and for us,” said Grant. “I thought he did well and he scored a goal. It'll be three to four weeks, which is a lot of games to miss, and it's a big blow for us.”

Reynolds said: “He had surgery done on his knee to clean it up. He's had a really nasty gash on it. It was very deep and long.

“But it could have been a lot more serious. If it had been three inches lower it could have been much more serious.”

Chadwick appeared to damage his shoulder in the same incident, but Reynolds said he was not expecting any more problems in that area.

“If it was dislocated, it went back in very quickly - he put it back in himself,” he said.

Grant voiced concern over players' safety because of the proximity of the advertising boards to the touchline.

He said: “We had the same thing at West Ham last year with Danny Gabbidon when he gashed his knee on a board behind the goal at Blackburn and was out for four to six weeks.

“It's something we all have to look at for the safety of players because you get enough injuries on the pitch without getting them off the pitch.

“It's important to have sponsorship but perhaps the boards are too close.”

The injury compounds City's injury problems as they prepare for successive home games against Hull and Leicester, then six Coca-Cola Championship matches in December.

With injured Lee Croft (ankle) and Ian Henderson (knee) still sidelined, City's right-sided options are limited.

“We seem to be getting injuries in the same areas of the field. But we've just got to get on with it and hand the responsibility to the other players,” said Grant.

“Crofty is still three weeks away. Ian Henderson was back in training but has got a little niggle.”

There were other minor casualties after the derby defeat at Ipswich, with Gary Doherty, Adam Drury and Robert Earnshaw all feeling the effects.

“Doc's back is a bit stiff, but he should be training by the end of the week and I'm sure he'll be available for the weekend.

“Adam's under the weather with a bit of a bug that's going round and Earnie got a knock but I think that's partly down to having a couple of games in a week. He missed training yesterday.”

Midfielder Youssef Safri also missed Sunday's match with a bout of flu'.