WORCESTER Warriors wing Andy Short is close to making a return to action after being out since September with an ankle injury.

The former Bristol player had an operation on the ankle he hurt in the early stages of Worcester’s 43-35 defeat against the Barbarians in their opening warm-up match.

Head coach Carl Hogg said Short had been considered for selection for Saturday’s European Challenge Cup match against Zebre in Parma (2pm GMT).

But Hogg said: “Andy Short is not far away.

“We thought we might get him back in for this week but he’s probably going to miss out.”

Centre Andy Symons will also be introduced into the fray “in the next couple of weeks”.

Symons has been on the sidelines for six months after damaging his cruciate ligament in training.

Symons had an operation on his knee problem and underwent rehabilitation at a state-of-the-art clinic in Denver, USA.

Hogg added: “Andy Symons is getting there – he’s not far away now and we will get him into the fold in the next couple of weeks.”