BLUEBIRDS boss Mark Collier says he’s looking forward to having a central defensive selection headache when Matt Coupe returns to full fitness.

The centre-half made a surprise return to the bench for last weekend’s FA Trophy win over Frome Town, more than three months after fracturing a bone in his leg in his side’s clash with Paulton.

Whilst Coupe has been on the sidelines, his manager brought in another defender from Gloucester City in the form of Mark Preece and Collier is anticipating picking between those two and Greg Tindle will be precisely the kind of problem he needs.

“Matt Coupe has come through a few training sessions and his enthusiasm is quite unbelievable really, so we wanted him in the squad and on the bench,” said Collier.

“He’s been pain-free for a little while and he was supposed to have another follow-up hospital appointment this week, so we’ll just wait and see. We may end up bringing him back ahead of schedule.

“Greg Tindle has a one-match ban for this weekend but it will absolutely be a good thing when I’ve got everyone available for a place in the squad.”

Luke Ballinger is away on England futsal duty as Chippenham host Histon in the Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division this weekend while Bryan Smith is still ruled out as he recovers from his broken nose.

Collier will also give Michael Pook (calf) and Jordan Roberts (knee) until the last minute to prove their fitness for Saturday’s clash.

“They’re (Histon) certainly one of the form teams in the division and looking at the names on their teamsheet, they’ll be a much-changed side from the one we faced earlier in the season,” added Collier.

“But we’ve got to look to improve our home form. We’ve conceded too many goals at home and we need to begin picking up points."

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