Aidan Connolly is “progressing brilliantly” and will be back on the training pitch next week.
The Raith Rovers star played through the pain barrier last season after picking up an ankle ligament injury at Ibrox and hasn’t featured this season.
Manager Ian Murray said that last season’s top scorer will soon step up his recovery and is hoping the 28-year-old can make his return in next month’s SPFL Trust Trophy.
Rovers welcome Northern Irish side Cliftonville to Stark’s Park in the third round of the competition.
“Aidan Connolly is progressing brilliantly,” Murray told Courier Sport.
“He’ll be back on the pitch next week, which is amazing. I’ve got my eye on the Cliftonville game for Aidan.”
Ian Murray: Players came through Hibs game unscathed
A more pressing matter is this weekend’s Fife derby.
It is the second of the season after the sides opened their Viaplay Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw and bonus-point win for Dunfermline.
Murray said that Ross Millen, Ethan Ross Scott Brown, Shaun Byrne and Jamie Gullan all came through last week’s defeat to Hibs unscathed and are available for the weekend.
That means Ross Matthews and Dylan Corr are the only other players still out through injury.
Ian Murray gives Dylan Corr update
Corr’s injury is taking a little longer than expected to get to the bottom of.
“It’s a bit sketchy for Dylan Corr, much longer than we thought,” said Murray.
“We think he might have broken something in his toe. It’s probably three to four weeks maximum for him.”
One player they will be without is left-back Liam Dick who was sent off versus Hibs for serious foul play.
That leaves Raith short in that area but the versatile Scott McGill has filled in there before and may be required to again.
Ian Murray not expecting to do more business soon
Murray doesn’t expect to do any more business between now and the end of the transfer window next week.
They may bring in a loan, but there is no time pressure to do so with that window staying open for another month still.
“We’ve not really looked at anything,” said Murray. “We’re really happy with what we’ve got.
“We might add a loan, but we can do that after the window closes if it comes from the Premiership.
“That’s something we might look at further down the line, but at the moment, unless something pops up for us that we really like, there are no plans to add any more.”
