There were fears the Birmingham City skipper would be out of action until the New Year after having his jaw broken in two places by West Brom's Paul Robinson at the end of October.

However, the tough-tacking midfielder (pictured), returned to competitive action for Birmingham City Reserves on Tuesday afternoon and is on course to join the first team for Saturday's trip to Southend.

City Reserves boss Keith Bertschin said the Lisburn man was "chomping at the bit to get back".

He said: "Even though Jonty is strong and mentally tough when you've had an injury like his it takes some getting used to and you are bound to be a bit wary.

"Myself, Eric Black and Steve Bruce have all broken our jaws previously and arguably Jonty's injury was worse than ours.

"He wanted to play the full 90 minutes and he got through okay.

"There were times when he was cautious which is understandable but his fitness levels looked okay.

"Pound for pound he is the best individual trainer at the club and he's chomping at the bit to get back. However match fitness is very difficult to duplicate in training.

"If he's called on over the Christmas period he will have to be patient with himself."