Thursday Aug 02 2007 08:08
Birmingham City striker Mikael Forssell has forced his way back into first-team contention at St Andrew's and could face former club
Chelsea on the opening day of the new season.
The 26-year-old Finn has endured a torrid time with injuries during his spell with City and looked set to move to Germany to join Hannover earlier this summer.
However, Forssell has worked himself back into manager Steve Bruce's plans, showing the form that saw him bag 17 Premier League goals in the 2003-04 season.
Bruce told PA: "Is Mikael in with a chance of playing against Chelsea? Absolutely. There is no question of that. He has looked so sharp this pre-season.
"We really hope he can stay that way, that his knee is fixed and he is pain free, which wasn't the case at the end of the season.
"No-one needs to tell me how good a player Mikael is when on song and fit. It was a fantastic effort when he scored 19 goals, 17 of them in the Premier League, three or four seasons ago.
"If he stays fit, it will be like having a new signing and I might not have to go looking for another striker to sign.
"There was talk about him moving to Germany and maybe we thought the change of club would do him good after battling injuries for three years.
"But the deal never happened, thankfully, and he has been showing what we all know he is capable of."
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