Leeds United rivals Ipswich Town fear season-ending injury to key attacker after international withdrawal

Burns picked up the injury during Ipswich’s 6-0 rout of Sheffield Wednesday last weekend and was substituted before half-time, unable to continue for Kieran McKenna’s side.

The Suffolk club’s head coach revealed after the match that Burns’ issue didn’t look like a minor problem, casting doubt on the part he will be able to play for the remainder of 2023/24. “It doesn’t look great,” McKenna said. “It's a hamstring and it doesn't look like a minor one. I don't think it feels like a minor one. Of course we'll scan it over the next few days and assess it, but that's the undoubted low point of today.” Ipswich trail Leeds in the Championship table by a single point, although have an inferior goal difference to Daniel Farke’s Whites, which could be a factor in automatic promotion given the two sides’ unrelenting form. There are eight matches remaining between Good Friday’s return to domestic action and the final, potentially deciding weekend of May 4. That leaves Burns and Ipswich roughly a month to oversee his return to the pitch for games against the likes of Southampton, Hull City, Norwich City and Middlesbrough, which due to the as yet undisclosed severity of the injury, may not be possible. Burns’ withdrawal means he does not join up with the rest of the Wales squad, which includes Leeds quartet Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Connor Roberts and Daniel James, as well as Ipswich teammates Nathan Broadhead and Kieffer Moore. “Everyone is gutted for Wes down in the dressing room. We just have our fingers crossed that the severity isn't as bad as it possibly could be,” McKenna added. Versatile right-sided player Burns has won six caps for his country and scored five Championship goals this season, contributing a further three assists in Ipswich’s promotion push. He has appeared 32 times in the league, starting 28 of those and was a stalwart in their League One campaign last term, notching eight goals and 14 assists en route to promotion back to the second tier.

Typically, mild or moderate - known as grade 1 or 2 - hamstring tears or strains tend to heal within three to eight weeks, however grade 3 hamstring injuries can take as long as three months to properly heal. Anything longer than six weeks for Burns will mean his 2023/24 campaign is finished - unless Ipswich end up participating in the Championship play-offs.