City boss, Mark Robins provided a fitness update on his captain, Liam Kelly ahead of today’s clash with Bournemouth at St Andrew’s.
Kelly was forced off at Ashton Gate against Bristol City on the opening day of the season and since then has been missing from action in all competitions.
However, after training on Friday last week for the first time, Robins revealed that the midfielder is fit and available for selection once more.
“He’s been training this week and has joined in and looks fit.” Robins said.
“He looks after himself anyway so whenever he’s out, he’s always back fit and doesn’t look like he’s ever been away, so yes he’s ready to come back into the fold.”
There was also an update on Wesley Jobello, who featured for the first time against Crewe Alexandra’s Under-23s on Wednesday.
Wes had been out for almost 12 months after an ACL injury he picked up around this time last year and Robins confirmed that the Frenchman came through the game unscathed.
“I didn’t go to the game because we were at Ryton training, so the report that I’ve had is that he did ok in the time that he had on the pitch.
“It’s good for him because it was a tough game he took a few hits which you’d normally expect in possession and he has done ok and shown some good power, so that’s good for him to get part of a game under his belt.”
However, there was bad news for defender Brandon Mason, who it has been confirmed picked up an injury in training on Monday.
“We’ve lost Brandon for a period of time.
“He hurt his knee on Monday and scans show he’s got a medial ligament problem which will probably keep him out for 6-8 weeks which is not good for him and not good for us.
“Thankfully it wasn’t anything worse than that and we’re hopeful we’ll get him back quicker than that but those are time scales that we’ve been given.”
On a more positive note, the manager took time to speak about the recent new contract rewarded to Will Bapaga.
The 17-year-old signed a new three-year-deal earlier this week and Robins was pleased for Will and is looking forward to him taking the next step in his development.
“Will is a young player that has come through the academy and has done very well and he’s still very young.
“This is just the next step in his development and that’s all it is at this moment of time and I’m very excited by his potential.
“But that’s s what it is at the minute, it’s potential.
“He loves playing and he loves the game and that’s a good starting point for anybody, but there’s a lot of work and learning to be done if he’s wants to make the next step which is to be in the squad on a regular basis.”