DAVID Hopkin is cautiously sensing the end could soon be in sight for City’s on-going injury woes.

The Bantams boss has been hampered with his selection because of the long list of casualties in the squad.

He has been down to just 16 available players for the first team in the fight to pull themselves clear of the League One drop zone.

But skipper Josh Wright made his comeback in the Checkatrade Trophy – and long-term absentee Alex Jones came on for the last 10 minutes.

Hope Akpan, Wright’s partner in central midfield at the start of the season, is also ready to step up his recovery from a dislocated shoulder.

Hopkin said: “He’s started running so I think it will be a week or two before he is back in full training.

“It gives us options if he comes back and hopefully we can get him back a wee bit quicker.

“But at the same time we can’t rush these injuries because if they happen again we’ll lose them for longer.

“I think we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Jones’s late involvement against Oldham was his first competitive outing since November 11 last year because of a serious ankle injury.

He played one half of a pre-season friendly at Guiseley in July but then suffered a further setback to hold up his progress.

Hopkin added: “I spoke to Alex Jones last Tuesday after he’d trained a couple of days. I asked him if he could play for 10-15 minutes and he was delighted to be back.

“It’s good for us, but it’s another thing where we have to be patient with him.

“He’s been out for nearly a year, so we can’t just keep throwing him in and starting games.

“It’s got to be done gradually, maybe 10-15 minutes from the bench when we need him.

“But it’s good to have a goal-scorer back because that’s what we need at this moment in time.”

After five weeks out, Wright came through 86 minutes on Tuesday. He did stay down after a challenge at one stage but Hopkin is confident it was only bruising and the midfielder was able to play on.

The City head coach is keeping his fingers crossed that Eoin Doyle will be fit to return at Accrington this weekend after sitting out the last two league games with a stiff back.

“Eoin’s started doing light running on Tuesday,” said Hopkin. “Hopefully he’ll be back training with us today and tomorrow.

“It’s another massive boost if we can get him back for Saturday.

“It’s disappointing we lost (the other night) because I never like getting beaten. But I think deep down we knew because of the kids playing.

“It’s so important now that everybody is focused on Saturday. I need to make sure we start picking up points and Accrington is a massive game.”