Gary Gardner shares fitness update ahead of Birmingham City’s clash with Blackpool | OneFootball

Birmingham City midfielder Gary Gardner has revealed that he is now training alongside his team-mates after making progress in his road to recovery from a calf injury.

As a result of this aforementioned issue, the 30-year-old has not made a competitive appearance for the Blues since their defeat to Norwich City in August.

In the absence of Gardner, Birmingham head coach John Eustace has turned to the likes of Krystian Bielik, Hannibal Mejbri, George Hall and Jordan James for inspiration in the heart of midfield.

Birmingham will be looking to get back to winning ways in the Championship this weekend when they head to Bloomfield Road to face Blackpool.

When you consider that the Seasiders have lost their last four league games, the Blues may prove to be too strong for Michael Appleton’s side if they are firing on all cylinders.

Ahead of this upcoming fixture, Gardner has shared an update on his current situation at Birmingham.

Speaking to Birmingham Live, the midfielder said: “I started back training a week ago on Monday so I have been back now seven-eight days.

“Just building the training up for hopefully a reserve game soon.

“There’s no target in mind necessarily.

“It’s been a tough spell for me, injured then coming back and getting injured again.

“It was hard to take but obviously it is a hazard of the game.

“I had worked so hard to get back to that level but that sometimes happens in football, I have been quite lucky the last five-six years to be available for a lot of games.

“We are going to take it nice and slowly and gradually build it up.”

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The Verdict

This is a relatively encouraging update as Gardner is clearly edging closer to being available for selection.

Whereas this weekend’s showdown with Blackpool will come too soon for the midfielder, he could potentially return before the end of December if he builds up his fitness by featuring in one of Birmingham’s upcoming Under-21 games.

The Blues’ youth side are set to take on Colchester United in the Premier League Cup on Monday before facing Southampton in this competition on December 16th.

When he is ready to play at senior level again, Gardner will be determined to use his wealth of Championship experience to his advantage.

Having made 266 appearances in this division during his career, the midfielder knows exactly what it takes to compete at this level and thus he could potentially help the Blues achieve a relative amount of success in the second half of the 2022/23 campaign.