Town manager Mick McCarthy says David McGoldrick and Teddy Bishop returning to action will be, as the cliché goes, just like signing two new players.

Bishop, 19, has been out of the first-team picture since pre-season, initially due to shin splints - which also hampered him at the end of last season - and then through a persistent hamstring injury.

The Cambridge-born youngster played for the U21s at Birmingham in mid-September, then in the home game against Crystal Palace at the end of October but hasn’t been involved since.

McGoldrick missed most of the second half of last season with a troublesome thigh problem, having been out of action for the final months of the previous campaign after suffering a serious knee injury.

The Irish international has had a stop-start 2015/16 due to a number of injuries, which have restricted him to eight starts and 11 sub appearances, scoring three goals.

After returning to action following a groin problem in mid-December, the 28-year-old, who signed a new contract tying him to Town until 2018 earlier in the campaign, tore a hamstring in training.

While both are making progress, McCarthy isn’t setting a timescale for their return but is looking forward to having them available again, whenever that is.

“It would be fantastic for us and for them as well,” he said. “What they don’t want to do is be out for the full season. I know Didz has played but Bish hasn’t had a game this season.

“Whatever happens, it would be great for them to play football before the end of the season.

“When we finish in May, whenever it is, they don’t want to be going without a game all the way through to August again, that would be tough for them, that would be really, really hard.

“It would be hard for us but it would be great if we get them back, that would be the cliché of two new players, but that’s how it would feel.”

He says Bishop has found being sidelined for so long difficult: “It’s been really tough for him. He had a spell where he permanently had the upside-down smile on his face.

“I said to him ‘Look Ted, I understand it when you’re injured, even when you’re an older player, you seem all out of it, nobody really talks to you or takes any notice of you’.

“But that’s not the case here because we do, we’re very caring about looking after the injured players as well.

“You just feel so useless, you can’t do your job. It’s tough on an older player and even worse still on a young player.

“He just seemed to limp from one injury to another, so hopefully when he comes back he’ll be flying.”

Photo: Action Images

Surco72 added 09:18 - Feb 5 No dates for return , be the end of the season at least before up to match fitness . Forest got rid of Dids due to fitness issues and paying him for spending more time not playing than playing , so far for us he has been injured every season and played less than half of our games . Personally don't think both would get into a starting MM side
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christiand added 10:07 - Feb 5 Reading into this article neither seems closer to a return as they aren't putting a date on it. Honestly, think we will be unlikely to see either of them before the end of the season. Even if they are fit, it will take quite a few games to get them match fit, due to the length of time they have both been on the sidelines.
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