Australian captain Ricky Ponting is confident of playing in the Boxing Day Test despite breaking his little finger during his side's 267-run win over England in Perth.
Ponting fractured the top joint of his left little finger late on the third day at the WACA when an edge from Jonathan Trott off Mitch Johnson's bowling flew straight to the skipper at second slip.
Ponting immediately left the field for x-rays that confirmed the fracture, hardly the type of thing the embattled captain needed on the eve of his 36th birthday.
But Ponting said he was almost certain of playing in Melbourne, even though the injury may make it harder for him to arrest a poor run of form.
"I think I'm a really good chance of playing," Ponting declared.
"Obviously I'm going to have as much treatment and look after it as well as I can the next few days really."
"I won't be able to bat the next few days but we've got a few days off anyway."
"The guys are all going home now and assemble back in Melbourne on Tuesday night for training Wednesday."
"I'm just going to do what I can to rest it as much as possible."
"So I'm not going to be silly and put myself ahead of the team, especially in such an important game."
"If I don't think I can function well then I won't play but if I feel that I can function and play somewhere near - I won't say how I've been playing - better than I have been playing, then I'll play the game."
The Australian selectors have also backed their captain to recover, naming an unchanged squad for the Boxing Day Test, with the proviso that someone may be added should Ponting not recover in time.
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