FULL-BACK Dan Jones has been boosted by the results of the scan on his injured knee.

The Bluebirds defender has been out of action for more than a month, but will return to training on Monday.

Scans of his injured knee showed only minor ligament damage, and he will have an injection today which will enable him to rejoin the squad at Hopwood Hall next week.

The 22-year-old has impressed manager Ady Pennock with his work-rate while on the sidelines, and the Bluebirds boss said: “It has been good news. There's a little bit of damage there, but it's not as serious as we first thought.

“He will have an injection on Friday and hopefully he will be ready to train on Monday.

“I'm hoping with him working so hard in training – and I do believe when you're injured that you should work harder than when you are playing – he will hit the ground running when he comes back.

“We're very happy. We have got a list of injuries, a smallish squad, and we could do with getting him back sooner rather than later, so we are very, very pleased.”

Joining Jones at training next week will be long-term injury victims Thierry Audel (broken arm) and Dave Nieskens (knee).

It will be the first time Pennock has been able to work with either man, and they will be assessed as to their fitness.

Jack Barthram, who rolled his ankle in the 2-0 defeat to Macclesfield Town last week, will not feature tomorrow at Eastleigh, nor in Tuesday's trip to Gateshead.

Pennock added: “Jack will be out for a couple of weeks. He rolled his ankle when he collided with Stuart and he will be out. He'll miss Eastleigh and Gateshead, but we are looking for him to be back for next Saturday.”