CENTRE back Colin Towler is ready to challenge for a first team shirt again after more than a month out with cracked ribs.

The 32-year-old suffered the painful injury during the 2-1 home defeat at the hands of his former club Bath City on August 26 and could only watch from the stands as the Bluebirds assembled a five-match unbeaten run.

He made the bench for last week's 2-1 win at Folkestone, and returned to action as a second half substitute in the disappointing 4-1 FA Cup defeat against Weymouth on Saturday.

Towler's return to fitness is a welcome boost for manager Tommy Saunders, whose central defensive department have been plagued by injury all season.

Skipper Gareth Davies is facing at least four weeks out with a groin injury, while Shane Andrews is still troubled by a groin problem he collected in the pre-season friendly win at Team Bath.

Tom Gould, who broke his wrist in pre-season, is due to serve a suspension in a fortnight's time after his dismissal in Saturday's defeat.

Said Towler: "I had a sneaking suspicion I might be able to play a part on Saturday during the week and declared myself fit to Tommy after taking part in Thursday's training session.

"After the game I felt okay, a little bit achy still, but nothing to worry about. It was nice for me to play a part, although it was a really bad result for us."

Towler replaced Mark Robinson with 20 minutes to go and almost made an immediate impact when he headed Steve Brown's free kick into the side netting within three minutes of his introduction.

He said: "I only saw it late. Their player, who was a great big lad, jumped as well and I saw it at the last minute. I just tried to get my head onto it, but I was off balance as well and it was always going to be difficult."

The experienced defender had never suffered a rib injury before during his career and was unsure how quickly the problem would take to clear.

Although Towler is satisfied that he is now able to compete on the first team stage again, he is still conscious that he is lacking match fitness.

Said Towler: "Even running was painful up until two weeks ago and I've just been trying to keep a level of fitness.

"But you can't compensate for matches. There is a difference between getting yourself fit and getting yourself match fit and that's what I'm looking towards now.

"I'll obviously be available for the game against Moor Green on Saturday and we'll take it from there. I'd be happy to sit on the bench and play a part as long as we keep getting good results."