GARY Cahill could make a shock return to first team action with Wanderers by the end of next month.

Specialists have given the highly-rated centre-half the green light to return to training in a fortnight, giving him a fighting chance of facing Manchester United when they come to the Reebok on March 27.

It had been feared Cahill’s season was over when he discovered a blood clot in his arm earlier this month.

But doctors found that a long-standing problem caused by his rib blocking a major artery had caused the problem, and following minor surgery, they are now confident the clot will not return.

A delighted Owen Coyle said news of Cahill’s impending return came as a huge fillip to both club and country.

“It’s a tremendous boost, first for Gary, secondly for the club, and thirdly for England,” he said.

“He’s delighted because there’s no doubt when it occurred, it was a traumatic time.

“It’s great when you can see light at the end of the tunnel, first and foremost for him, because it can kickstart his career.”

Cahill was diagnosed on February 6 after complaining of a pain in his shoulder while lifting weights.

The clot was later successfully dissolved but it seemed the defender would still face a lengthy spell on the sidelines while he completed a course of blood thinning drugs designed to prevent it returning again.

But the cloud was then found to have a silver lining, as scans revealed an existing issue with his ribs which meant that only a relatively simple piece of surgery was required to set him on the path to recovery.

“He can’t do anything contact-wise for another two weeks because of the operation but after that he’ll be able to step up. I would hope he’d be back within four weeks,” announced Coyle yesterday morning.

“It’s something that could happen to anybody - it’s just that when he twisted, the blood flow was restricted to that artery.

“It’s flowing freely now and we’re assured that it will never happen again.”

Coyle also reckons Cahill has a chance to muscle in on a place in Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad if he can hit top form in the final two months of the campaign.

“If and when he gets back and plays to the level he can, it’s great news for the country,” he said.

“I do know that Mr Capello is an admirer of Gary and it’s up to him now to show those qualities game-in game-out when he comes back.”