DAVID MIRFIN intends to prove over the next 24 hours that he’s ready to step back into the League I arena.

The 22-year-old hasn’t played for four matches since Town’s Carling Cup exit at Blackpool because of a knee injury suffered in training.

But he is making rapid progress under the watchful eye of physio Lee Martin and, providing he suffers no setbacks when he returns to full training tomorrow, he will be available for Andy Ritchie’s squad at Crewe on Saturday.

“Mirf has had a couple of very good days and he’s feeling good,” said Ritchie today.

“He still needs to do a little bit more specialist stuff with Lee, but we’ll have a look at him tomorrow and we hope he’s going to be okay.”

With Frank Sinclair already ruled out because of the hamstring injury he suffered at Millwall, Mirfin’s return would be a major tonic for Ritchie, especially with loan signing Richard Keogh on Republic of Ireland Under 21 duty against Portugal in Cork tomorrow night (Michael Collins is also in the squad and unavailable for Gresty Road).

Meanwhile, skipper Jon Worthington has had an MRI scan which revealed he has no significant problem, just a flare-up in his groin.

He will need some rest and rehabilitation and the home match with Cheltenham on Saturday week is his target.