Dundee United have received a big boost with the news that three of their injured players are back running.
Lewis Toshney (ankle), Stewart Murdoch (cruciate ligament) and Blair Spittal (groin) were all out in the cold St Andrews air yesterday being put through their paces by physio Jeff Clark.
Spittal may even be fit enough to be included against Falkirk in the Championhsip clash on Saturday.
Toshney is targeting the Irn Bru Cup quarter-final against Dunfermline on November 12, while Murdoch hopes to be not too far behind him.
Significantly, United are taking the opportunity to give Toshney what amounts to a late pre-season.
The progress report is a real bonus for Tangerines manager Ray McKinnon.
He said: “The good news is that Lewis Toshney, Stewart Murdoch and Blair Spittal are all back running.
“They are coming along just fine and that’s great news.
“They have done some really intense work.
“I stood and watched them do the running and they looked as if they were fit.
“It is all still in straight lines and non-contact at the moment, though, and they will build on the running later.
“Out of the three of them, Blair would be the only one who might be ready for Saturday.
“The other two are looking at coming in for full training at the end of next week and then get a full week behind them and maybe part of a game.
“I would, touch wood, be looking at the Dunfermline game in the cup on November 12.
“That timescale would be realistic for Tosher and hopefully for Murdo too.
“It will be great when we get them all back.
“What we are doing is giving Tosher a pre-season.
“I told out physio Jeff that I wanted him to do that because he missed a lot of the summer programme because of a broken nose and other injuries.
“It was stop-start for him but the plan is to get him running solid for a couple of weeks.
“Then I would want him to come back as fit as he can be.
“It will be great when we get them all back.”
