Jerome Thomas is back in the Blues frame having recovered from a serious back injury.

The former England under-21 winger suffered a stress fracture in the base of his spine less than a week after signing on a permanent basis.

The problem kept him out for six weeks, during which time Redknapp also recruited Armand Traore and Nadir Belhadj for left-wing duties.

Now Thomas is back, announcing his arrival with a key role in the reserves' 3-2 victory over Spurs on Monday night.

The Blues boss was there to survey the game at Leyton Orient's Brisbane Road ground, with the winger serving 89 minutes.

And he believes the 25-year-old is well on the road to challenging for a first-team spot again.

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He said: 'Jerome did all right the other night. It was good to see him back out there again.

'He's been unfortunate with his injury really. He'd only just arrived here and then picked up a nasty-looking injury.

'The lad's back now, though, and came through the Spurs game okay.

'Now, hopefully, he can push on and challenge for the first team.

'I like him, he's definitely a talent, and he can do well for this football club for sure.

'He's another left-sided player and gives you another option on that side to what we have at the moment.

'In many ways he's similar to Armand Traore.

'He goes at people, he's exciting, he loves to attack, has bags of skill and can just make things happen.

'We haven't seen much of him because of the injury, but he is a player with terrific ability.

'Hopefully, he'll be back challenging again soon. He's another great option to have.'

Thomas appeared as a substitute against both Chelsea and Manchester United in the opening matches of the campaign.

Against the Premier League champions, especially, he shone having entered as a 56th minute substitute for Traore.

The former Charlton man caused problems for United down the left and was unfortunate not to cap his Fratton Park debut with a goal following a shot from distance.

Since then he has been sidelined by a back problem – a complaint thought to have been made worse by his bed. Now he has hit the comeback trail and is pushing to break back into Redknapp's first-team squad.

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