John Beresford has received a pick-me-up after falling down the stairs at home.

The Saints defender, currently on loan at Birmingham, was thought likely to need a cartilage operation which would have ruled him out for around two months.

But surgeons discovered the problem was a loose piece of bone which flaked off the knee in the freak fall. They were able to flush it out and he is now expected to be fit in around three or four weeks.

However, that will not be in time for him to play again at St Andrews before his loan spell finishes and he has now returned to The Dell to begin rehabilitation work.

David Hirst will be back at The Dell on Monday following knee surgery. He is hoping the latest clean-out has solved the long-running problems which have threatened his career.

Fellow knee victims Richard Dryden and David Howells have shown no ill-effects from their midweek runs with the reserves. Howells played the full game while Dryden came through his first 45 minutes of the season.

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