BLUEBIRDS defender Matt Coupe is hoping that he’s closing in on a return to action.

Coupe suffered a fractured leg in Chippenham Town’s draw with Paulton Rovers back in August but made a surprise return to the bench for last weekend’s FA Trophy win over Frome Town.

The ex-Gloucester City man was due to have a scan yesterday to assess the progress of his recovery and the centre-half is confident that he’ll be back on the pitch soon.

“I trained twice last week and chucked myself into a few challenges to test it, and I came through it alright,” said Coupe.

“I don’t really have a lot of pain anymore and it’s more a dull ache, so hopefully I’ll be back in a week or so.

“Back when I got injured, the initial scan showed that there was no damage. I tried to play in the next game, against Hungerford, and was in a lot of pain.

“I paid for my own scan and that showed that my fibia was 4mm out of line, so who knows what was wrong with the first one.

“The games are coming thick and fast for Chippenham, so I think the best thing for me is to try and get as much game-time as I can – hopefully, very soon.”

Coupe added: “I think that Mark (Collier) has been unlucky with the amount of injuries that he’s had in the squad.

“I think it’s important to have competition in the squad and I think we’ve definitely got that. Hopefully we can be successful.”

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