O'Brien is due to play for Ireland against Australia this month

Northants are confident that Ireland wicketkeeper Niall O'Brien will be able to continue playing this summer despite fracturing a finger.

The 28-year-old damaged his left index finger at the end of last season. It flared up again during February and got worse as he played on with painkillers.

But his club have said he will have his finger drained and have an injection.

And Northants are confident he can face Warwickshire when they get their Twenty20 campaign underway on Thursday.

"It's not ideal. The two options are getting a pin in it that would put me out for a minimum of two, possibly three months," said O'Brien.

"The other option is to get an injection in it straight away to try and take a lot of the inflammation down and the pain away and just crack on."

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