Interim Charlton Athletic head coach Johnnie Jackson has been given a big boost to his defensive options ahead of the Christmas and New Year fixtures as Ryan Inniss is set to return to match action next week.
The 26-year-old, who came through the ranks at Crystal Palace and spent time on loan at nine different clubs in his stint at the Eagles, signed permanently for the Addicks in October 2020.
There was always a risk though with Inniss' injury record that he may not play a full season of matches and 2020-21 proved to be just that as he missed four months with a quad injury.
And despite starting the current campaign fit and healthy, disaster struck again against Crewe in late August as another quad injury put the centre-back on the sidelines for a considerable amount of time.
With Sam Lavelle also struck down it has meant that Sean Clare has stepped into an unfamiliar role at the back recently, and despite performing well he may soon be freed up to play elsewhere as Inniss closes in on a return.
Having returned to full training last week, the defender is pencilled in for a return in under-23's action against Crystal Palace next week, with the hope that he can make a comeback in League One soon after.
“We want him to have another full week of training with the group," Jackson told the South London Press.
He has been back with the group since Monday of last week. He has done a week and we want him to get another week.
"He has been out a long time and needs to get a body of training behind him before he can build up to games.
“If he goes into a 23s game with two weeks training then we’ll be happy with that. Then we can start pushing him on.”
The Verdict
You wouldn't know that Charlton have had somewhat of a defensive injury crisis with the way they've been playing recently.
But with Inniss and Lavelle both sidelined with separate injuries it's meant that Jackson has had to be creative and for the most part it has worked.
Getting Inniss back in though will be key especially with fixtures coming thick and fast - when he's on it he's a top League One defender.
This is the second time though that he's had a long spell out though in the space of a year with the same issue so Charlton fans will be wary that it could happen again as soon as he returns.