Garry O’Connor and Lee Carsley may still be some time away from a return to first team action but manager Alex McLeish says that their progress to full fitness is pleasing.

O’Connor went under the knife for a hip problem and Carsley has been suffering from an ankle injury but both have been putting in the required gym work although running and full training are both some time away. "Carsley is a few weeks away. He's not started running yet. He's doing some work in the gym and O'Connor likewise" said McLeish.

Another injured player could be moving away from St Andrews on loan to help him regain full fitness. Full back David Murphy fractued his knee cap back in April and has not played since. McLeish is aware that with Murphy now behind several other defenders in line for first team actin, a spell away could be just what he needs. "We could be doing with Dave Murphy going out on loan and playing some games now” said the Scot, “There's a wee bit of interest in the Championship and he would be happy to go and get some action. "We've got some pretty good cover at the left-back position just now with Gregory Vignal – and Franck Queudrue can also slot in there.”