Leeds United's Championship promotion rivals suffer huge injury blow ahead of run-in

Ipswich Town will be sweating on the fitness of Kieffer Moore for their promotion run-in after the striker was forced off against Southampton on Monday evening.

Moore lasted just 36 minutes before limping off during the top-of-the-table clash at Portman Road, following an awkward collision on the halfway line. The on-loan forward tried to play on but hit the floor minutes later and eventually left the pitch holding his lower back, to be replaced by Ali Al-Hamadi.

The blow came at a terrible time for Kieran McKenna's side, who had thrown away an early lead against fellow promotion hopefuls Southampton. Leif Davis opened the scoring for Ipswich but the Saints levelled less than a minute later through Che Adams before Adam Armstrong turned the tide.

The potential absence of Moore for the run-in would be a major blow for Ipswich, with the forward almost ever-present since signing on loan from Bournemouth in January. The 31-year-old has six goals in 11 appearances and has been crucial to his side's uptick in form, following a brief stumble in January.

It is unclear whether Moore will be out for the long-term but he will be a major doubt for Ipswich's massive derby at Norwich City on Saturday. Manager McKenna will likely provide a more clear update on his forward before then.

After enjoying a large portion of the campaign with few fitness issues, Ipswich have been hit with a number of key injuries in recent weeks. Key forward George Hirst, who has 23 league appearances to his name, underwent surgery on a serious hamstring injury in January and is expected to miss the remainder of the season.

Wes Burns is also expected to be out for the long-term, having also picked up a hamstring injury. Leif Davis, Conor Chaplin, Brandon Williams, Nathan Broadhead and Massimo Luongo have also endured periods of absence since the turn of the year.

Ipswich entered a tough period of fixtures with Monday's visit of Southampton to Portman Road, with Saturday seeing them at Carrow Road for that derby clash against Norwich. The Canaries took a point from their rivals in the reverse fixture and have been in decent form, up until an underwhelming defeat at Leicester City. McKenna's side also face a resurgent Watford and play-off chasing Hull City and Coventry before the end of the season.