Duff returns at Irongate

Within days we were told that he would be out for the season and that was no surprise given that when the news of the injury was made public three days later he'd already had surgery to his lateral ligament and hamstring tendon. There was worse to come, one all that was repaired he was facing cruciate ligament surgery.

The first piece of good news came in December when an exploratory operation showed that there was no further surgery required and that allowed Duff to get back on the road to fitness, and it has been a lot quicker than we could have dared hope.

He was close to featuring for part of the last reserve game but was left out because of the poor conditions. He did play a full ninety minutes in a behind closed doors friendly against Crewe and would have featured in the game in Ireland against Bohemians but stayed in England about to become a dad for the first time.

This week though he's finally back and manager Owen Coyle has confirmed that he'll play in the reserve game against Preston. This game is on Wednesday and will be played at Irongate, the home of Bamber Bridge, kicking off at 7:00 p.m.