WIGAN Athletic skipper Mario Melchiot is expected to figure for Holland in Euro 2008 despite an end-of-season injury scare.

Melchiot, 31, missed Wigan's final two Premiership games due to a groin injury and it was initially thought he may need to undergo surgery.

A month's rest has since helped the Dutch international's fitness and he is back on course to play in the European championships after being named for the provisional 29-man squad by coach Marco Van Basten.

Wigan boss Steve Bruce is very confident he will see Melchiot gracing the international stage in Austria and Switzerland this summer.

He says: "Mario has been coming along fine - to see a Wigan player feature in the tournament would be fantastic."

Melchiot is ready to resume full training but there will be no international football this summer for his Wigan team-mate Kevin Kilbane who has been ordered by a specialist to rest in a bid to cure a back problem.

Kilbane was forced to sit out the final game of the season against Manchester United.

Bruce fully expects Kilbane to be fully fit for pre-season training in July.

Meanwhile, the Wigan boss is closing in on a transfer swoop for French midfielder Hassan Yebda.

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