Hull City striker Gedo could be fit enough to get on the Premier League goal trail in the next two weeks. Although the Egyptian hotshot has linked up with his national side for their final World Cup qualifying group match against Guinea tonight, he will not play any part in the clash.
But the 28-year-old, who scored five key goals in 12 outings last season to help the Tigers clinch their top-flight return, is closing in on a first-team comeback. With Egypt already confirmed as Group G winners and the result now essentially meaningless, their coaching staff have decided to give the prolific hitman, who has 17 goals in 33 games for his country, more time to fully recover from an ankle problem which required surgery at the end of last season.
Having only agreed to rejoin the Tigers on a season-long loan deal from Al-Ahly on deadline day, Gedo is desperate to prove his fitness to boss Steve Bruce. Whilst this weekend's visit of Cardiff looks to have come too soon for Gedo to feature, the safety-first approach adopted by Egypt means he should be in contention for a place on the bench for the trip to Newcastle next week. However, a more likely chance for a first start of this season could come in the League Cup clash against Huddersfield at the KC Stadium on September 24.
Although Gedo will be rested by the Pharaohs, City team-mate Ahmed Elmohamady is expected to play at least 45 minutes. With Robbie Brady and Stephen Quinn involved in the Republic of Ireland's must-win trip to Austria, it means Bruce will be keeping a close watch on tonight's internationals with one eye on Saturday's visit of Cardiff.
After losing 2-1 to Sweden on Friday, only a victory will give the Republic any chance of rescuing their qualification dream and even that may not prove enough if Sweden do the same in Kazakhstan. Alex Bruce is expected to be among the subs for Northern Ireland's trip to Luxembourg.
