Former Aston Villa and Birmingham City midfielder Gary Gardner ‘not close’ to making Cambridge United debut

Supporters hoping to catch a first glimpse of Gary Gardner in action for Cambridge United will have to continue waiting.

There was much hype around the midfielder’s arrival from Birmingham City during the summer, but he is yet to feature for the club due to a combination of Achilles and toe injuries.

A previous update suggested that the 32-year-old could be in line to make his debut this month, but head coach Garry Monk is currently unable to put a timeframe on Gardner’s potential availability.

He said: “It’s one of – if not the most – frustrating ones. You think of the situation we’re in and the games we’ve had and you look at his quality and calibre, it would have been such a huge help to us.

“He’s progressing in his gym-based stuff and starting to move on to the pitch-based stuff, but it's not close to where we need him to be and where he wants to be in terms of helping us on the pitch in matches.

“It’s been frustrating because of how long it’s gone and I know that Gary feels the same because of the type of lad he is.

“But like any injury, I can’t spend time focusing on who is not available. I’m trying to put all my focus and energy into the players that are available – that’s all that we can do.

“Ones like Gary, if they can come in for any part of the season – who knows how long it will be. It could be the last three, four or five games or even for the last game – every contribution we can get is going to make a massive difference to us.”

Gardner is contracted to United until the summer of 2026.