West Bromwich Albion defender Dara O'Shea is set to make his long-awaited return from injury next week in an under-23's match with Birmingham City.

Baggies head coach Valerien Ismael confirmed in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Peterborough United clash this weekend that the Republic of Ireland international will make his first proper steps towards a first-team return against the Blues, per reporter Steve Madeley.

That match will take place on Monday night and the centre-back is expected to get 45 minutes of action in that game.

However his return to matches for the senior squad will not be for another few weeks at least, despite Albion suffering from a crisis in defence in recent weeks.

The 22-year-old suffered a fractured ankle and ligament damage when playing for his country against Portugal in early September and has been on the sidelines ever since.

His comeback is looming though and you can expect to see him back in the matchday squad in the Championship within the next few weeks - providing there are no setbacks.

The Verdict

This is good news for Ismael in particular who has been struggling with the availability of his defenders recently.

The likes of Conor Townsend and Darnell Furlong have had to fill in at centre-back so O'Shea coming back to ease the load will be a help.

But he shouldn't be rushed back for the sake of it - he's been out for a while with a terrible injury and it's one that he could potentially not come back the same from.

That's just looking at the worst case scenario though - we will know more when he's had his first taste of football which comes in a few days time and a plan can be devised from there.