Richard Chaplow is winning the race against time to be fit to face his former club, Burnley, for West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns tomorrow.
The midfield player has returned to training after sustaining a back injury last week and is in the running to occupy a place in Tony Mowbray's team.
And there is further good news for the Albion manager, as Nigel Quashie and Zoltan Gera could also play.
Quashie is available after missing the past three games because of an ankle injury. Gera is less likely to play — he has a calf injury — but Mowbray has not yet ruled him out of the equation.
Paul Robinson, the left back, returns after completing a three-match suspension for being sent off away to Birmingham City.
However, Jonathan Greening will serve a one-match ban for reaching five yellow cards.
Overall, Mowbray has been happy with the state of his squad, especially given that the team have only picked up one point from their past four matches.
"Gera didn't join in training yesterday," Mowbray said. "He was with the physio and fitness coach pushing him to see what limits he could get to.
"They thought he would be very, very close and we'll see if he trains [today]. Chappy trained and Nigel's been training all week."
Curtis Davies, Jason Koumas, Paul McShane, Martin Albrechtsen and Pascal Zuberbuhler, all of whom were away on international duty, have returned unscathed and declared themselves fit.
"Everyone else has trained and there were no reports of injuries from the players who played last night," Mowbray said. "Martin didn't get back for training in time but played half-an-hour last night.
"McShane reported in and joined in the warm-up, which was like his cool-down."
Burnley boss Steve Cotterill was one of the leading candidates for the Albion manager's job when Bryan Robson left The Hawthorns in September, but Turf Moor chiefs refused Albion permission to talk to him.
