LOUIS Carey provided Bristol City manager Keith Millen with a boost when coming through unscathed on his long-awaited return to action.

Forced to sit out the entire pre-season programme with a heel injury, City's captain played 90 minutes in a behind-closed-doors practice match against Cheltenham at Failand yesterday.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with Marlon Jackson scoring City's goal, and Carey afterwards declared himself ready to push for a place in the first team against Barnsley on Saturday.

The Bristolian said: "I really needed the 90 minutes. I've been back in training for a couple of weeks now, but there is no substitute for playing matches.

"It's been a frustrating summer and it feels good to be back. I'm over the injury and now it's a matter of pushing on and getting more minutes under my belt."

Carey suffered a cut to his heel after dropping a barbecue on himself during the close season. He recalled: "It was a freak injury, just one of those things really. When it happened, I thought I'd be back in a few weeks.

"I couldn't risk knocking the scab off the heel and I was walking around in training shoes with the heel cut out."

Fellow defender Christian Ribeiro played for 45 minutes, his first competitive action since sustaining a back injury at the end of last season.

Millen said: "We've been short of numbers all summer and the casualty list is the worst I've ever known. But things are slowly improving and having a player of Louis Carey's experience available again is a huge bonus.

"Christian is getting closer and Danny Haynes is also coming on well. There is light at the end of the tunnel."

Millen took the opportunity to view Irish midfielders Jimmy Keohane and Patrick Hoban for the first time since they arrived from Ireland to sign one-year deals, while goalkeepers Dean Gerken and Stephen Henderson played a half each.