Derby County midfielder Max Bird is set to return to the Rams squad on Saturday after recovering from injury.
According to BBC Sport Derby presenter Dominic Dietrich, Bird is set to return to the Derby squad to face Cambridge United on Saturday afternoon after a spell out with an ankle injury.
Bird had picked up the injury during the last few minutes in the 2-1 loss at home to Oxford United in mid-August, limping off just before the full-time whistle.
It was originally mooted that he would be out until the end of October at the earliest, but he appears to have managed to recover from his injury a lot earlier than expected.
His injury also scuppered any potential move to rejoin former manager Liam Rosenior at Championship side Hull City, after it was reported they had been interested in a move, before his injury meant teams lost interest. Rosenior and his assistant were even spotted at the Oxford game in which Bird picked up his injury.
Max Bird return comes as huge boost for Paul Warne
Having Bird back will be a huge boost to manager Paul Warne, after the latest injury to fellow midfielder Elliot Embleton, who is now set to be out with an ankle injury like Bird, which is set to kelp him out for the next few months.
Embleton joins Conor Hourihane and Liam Thompson as the other Derby midfielders out on the sidelines, so Derby are still quite light in that area of the pitch, even with Bird returning.
Warne may still be forced to dip into the free agent market for a midfielder, even if it is only on a deal until January, with plenty of players still available on free transfers.
If Bird picks up again quickly and is in good form, we could still well see Hull come back in for him in the January transfer window.