Scotland internationalist Kevin Nisbet is firmly on the comeback trail - but Hibernian manager Lee Johnson has warned the striker will not be back to his best until well into next year.
Nisbet suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) following a challenge from behind from Celtic’s Carl Starfelt in February but could be back training with the Hibs first team inside the next month.
After suffering the devastating news of his serious knee injury, the 25-year-old immediately set himself the target of returning to action in time for the World Cup in November should Scotland qualify.
Despite the nation’s disappointment, that remains a realistic timeframe for the former Dunfermline and Raith Rovers marksman after he stepped up his training in recent weeks.
But Johnson has admitted Hibs will need to tread carefully over what can be expected of Nisbet when he does finally make his return.
He said: “We are acting with a level of precaution for him but, as every box gets ticked, we can start progressing.
“Soon, he'll be working individually with the coaches and hopefully getting a bit more elasticity through the joint and the muscles.
“Once we tick those boxes with no setbacks he can be drip-fed into the first-team training. But it'll be after the international break.
“He'll be ready when he's ready. The target is to get him back as quickly as possible but it's got to be right.
“The re-occurrence rate does change dramatically from nine months to 12 months.
“I'm not saying you can't do things in those three months but you cannot expect a player with an ACL to be the same player he was nine months before.
“A year on they might be - and 18 months on they could potentially be even better because of the work they've done in the gym, working their upper bodies.
“We've got to give him time and space to go and come back properly.”
Meanwhile, Aiden McGeady could be back for Hibs in a month’s time.
The former Celtic and Republic of Ireland winger suffered a recurrence of a medial knee ligament injury he suffered last season with Sunderland and has been sidelined since July.
But Johnson is optimistic the 36-year-old is also making meaningful progress and will return with a point to prove.
He added: “It'll be a three to four week period before we get him training with the first-team. Aiden's experienced enough to know his body and he'll know if he can come through it.
“What I will say is that he's as hungry and angry as ever. He was angry with his form in terms of knowing it wasn't quite right. He wants to play and he wants to play for Hibs.
“At his age there's always decisions to be made and the decision is to see if we can get him back flying in four to six weeks.”
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