Francis handed McCarthy boost

Birmingham City manager Trevor Francis has been given a Worthington Cup semi-final boost with the news that key winger Jon McCarthy's nine-month injury nightmare is nearly over.

The Northern Ireland international broke his leg twice last season last season but has been back in full training with the First Division promotion chasers for two months.

Now the former Port Vale player has been given the go-ahead to resume playing after seeing a specialist on Monday and Francis anticipates it will not be long before he is ready for a return to fully fledged action.

The Blues chief, whose side face Ipswich in Tuesday's cup clash, said: "We were hoping he would get the green light and now he has got it then I don't think it will be too long before he is back in contention.

"He has been in full training now for around two months but had to wait for the specialist to give him the go ahead to start being involved in competitive football again.

"That will happen very quickly now he has got clearance and I know just know how keen Jon is to get back playing after such a long lay-off.

"His availability is a big boost for us because we have seen the kind of quality balls that he can deliver."