Kane Ritchie-Hosler could be back in action for Dunfermline by the end of February after returning to the club to step up his recovery from shoulder surgery.
The former Rangers and Manchester City youngster has endured a nightmare season since joining the Pars on a permanent deal last summer.
Surgery on ankle and knee problems restricted him to just half an hour of action in the first four months of the campaign.
Then, in just his fifth appearance of 2023-24, the 21-year-old dislocated his shoulder in the 3-0 win over Arbroath on November 28.
That necessitated a third operation and the youngster was subsequently told to take some time off with his family down in Manchester.
After nearly a month of recuperation south of the border, the popular winger returned to Scotland earlier this week.
And he will now be given a training programme aimed at completing his third comeback in the space of just six months.
Manager James McPake said: “Kane has come back up and it’s great to have him back in and about the place again.
“We’ll just progress things with him now.
‘Move pretty quickly’
“He’s out the sling and walking about doing low-level stuff, and I think with him it will move pretty quickly.
“We can get him on the bike and work his cardio fitness on that.
“It does go quite quickly once you’re out the sling.
“Hopefully you’re talking 12 weeks all in from the injury and we’re a good six weeks or so into that now.
“So, all going well we’ll have him back in by the end of February.”
McPake added: “If anybody deserves a bit of luck it’s Kane, with what he’s had to go through. What a nightmare he’s had and what character he’s shown.
“I was a bit worried with him coming back up, wondering how he’s going to be with another rehab ahead of him.
“But he’s certainly come back with a bit of a buzz about him and he was probably desperate to get back to work as well.”
Ritchie-Hosler was operated on north of the border last month before travelling back down to his native Manchester to spend Christmas with his family.
After three operations, it was felt the time away would help nurse the player mentally through his latest bodyblow.
And McPake is optimistic the break has worked.
‘Bubbly’
He added: “It looks like the time away has helped. He’s come in and he’s bubbly.
“He looked a bit down after the second injury. He got the surgery and even in his rehab you could tell he was struggling a wee bit.
“But I think the time off has done him good, mentally more than anything else, just getting down the road and spending Christmas with the family.
“Kane’s still a young kid and he’s been away from home for the past few years, so he’s not had many Christmases with his family.
“So, I think that was a good decision to get him down there, and in the last couple of days he’s been lively about the place.
“And the boys are glad to have him back as well.”
