Kevin Phillips has given his West Bromwich Albion team-mates a massive boost with the news that he will be back in contention for Saturday's Championship clash with Charlton at The Hawthorns.
Phillips is the first of Albion's crocked stars to make it back from the knee ligament injuries which have cursed the Black Country club.
The ten-goal top-scorer was stretched off after twisting his knee in a match against Sheffield Wednesday at The Hawthorns seven weeks ago but has come through training this week unscathed. His return is good news for manager Tony Mowbray who is now hoping to get striker Ishmael Miller, midfielder James Morrison and defender Martin Albrechtsen back any time soon from similar knocks.
Mowbray said: "We will decide at the end of the week but if Kevin in particular feels string and ready then I don't see why he won't play a part."
Meanwhile, Mowbray has been breathing a sigh of relief that he took on such a big squad at the start of the season to cover for situations such as that the club has found itself in recently with so many key players out injured.
He also revealed that experiences as a manager up in Scotland also taught him that lesson. He said: "I had a spell with a club in Scotland with as big an injury problem. I remember getting to the semi-final of the Scottish Cup one year with no team really. It was the end of the season and everyone was injured.
"That taught me that you have to have a squad. You get a squad and the quality and depth of that squad is ultimately what you are judged on.
"Unfortunately injuries are part and parcel of football really. What tends to happen is that, when clubs have, they tend to stop winning games but thankfully our squad came through this week when it was possibly at its lowest ebb and we managed to get a win at Leicester."
Mowbray was full of praise for those who had stepped into the breach for his injured stars and said some had now given him a real selection headache with the big name players back in contention.
He said: "The players that came in did a great job and managed to get a great result. Jared Hodgkiss, Shelton Martis and Pele all came in and did really well. Ultimately we won the football match when we could have been complaining about injuries because of a defeat.
"Generally the team is managing to function okay without Kevin (Phillips) and Ishmael (Miller) who are both neck and neck at the top of the goal-scoring charts. They will have been out for four or five weeks or so and yet the team are still managing to score goals and that is testimony to this squad.
"I think we have been stretched at the worst time in terms of the number of games we have just played but we have coped."
Mowbray said he had seen how even the best-equipped teams in the top flight could struggle when faced with a gruelling schedule of games.
He said: "I watched Arsenal against Middlesbrough the other night and saw a team that reminded me of our side against Coventry really. A team struggling to find dynamic movement and the passing and kind of play they are renowned for.
"You would put that down to the fact that Arsenal had to travel to Villa then Newcastle in midweek. They then went back down south and then back up to the North East again for the Boro match and they have also played in a major European competition.
"It takes a lot to maintain the mental and physical demands that the game demands from you. You have to hope you find the goals to get you through.
"Our injuries all came when we were in a long run of games including some which were away. We were down at Plymouth then at Crystal Palace then back here for a midweek game and I wasn't able to rotate the players due to the number of injuries.
"When you look at the number of games in the Championship you are going to need everybody. There are some decent teams in the division and if we coulf all keep our best team on the pitch for 46 games then it would be an interesting season.
"But it is those teams with quality in their squads who are up there towards the top end of the table. Invariably you do miss players like we are missing Phillips and Miller, Albrechtsen who has played a lot of games for us and young James Morrison who I thought has probably been one of our best players in the last few months.
"You have to try and get over it and we have got a big squad. When I look at the back of the programme every week I see teams with a lot more names on the back than we have but hopefully we have got quality in depth in our team."
