Matthew Pennington looks to have played his last game for Ipswich Town after rupturing ligaments in his ankle.
The central defender, currently on loan from Everton, suffered the ligament injury in training and is set to miss the rest of the season as a result. There is an estimate of a recovery time of between eight and 10 weeks, meaning he has played his final games for the Blues.
“He has an operation now,” Lambert said.
“He’s been excellent, Matty Pennington, but I thought Toto (Nsiala) came in and had a great game.
“Matty, while he’s obviously not our player, has been excellent. It was a nothing incident the other day in training with nobody near him.
It’s understood Pennington picked up the injury while clearing the ball in training, kicking the post as he did so.
Pennington has been one of the Blues’ most consistent performers during a difficult campaign, hitting the ground running with an impressive debut against Norwich City in September and maintaining those standards since.
In total he has made 31 appearances for the Blues during his season at Portman Road, scoring once in the 2-2 draw at Birmingham in September. He was sent off later in that game.
Teddy Bishop also missed today’s game with an ankle problem, with Lambert allaying fears that the injury will keep the midfielder out for a prolonged period.
“He’s rocked his ankle, which can happen in training,” Lambert said of Bishop.
“I could have taken the risk but I would have been risking his well-being. I obviously don’t want to do that because of his history with injuries.