John Rankin has revealed Hamilton Accies midfielder Lewis Spence is making good progress but he is unlikely to play before the end of the season.
The 27-year-old hasn't played since July and underwent knee surgery last year, spending the latter part of 2022 trying to build up his weight following months on the sidelines.
Boss Rankin is pleased to report that Spence is back running but previous hopes of him seeing some action this season look unlikely after he was asked for an update on the injured players amongst his squad.
He said: "There's not too much progress with many of the players.
"Marley Redfern has been ill. Jamie Hamilton isn't making much progress. He has plateaued at the moment. We are looking for him to progress but it has not quite happened.
"Steve [Lawson] and Reegan [Mimnaugh] are short-term injuries but we haven't seen them back on the pitch yet.
"The one we have seen major progress with is Lewis Spence but that is just him being back doing non-football related running.
"If Spenny manages to play before the end of the season we'll have done really well with his rehab.
"But it is pleasing to see him back on the pitch.
"It is tough when you are out for so long but he is an influential character, influential on the training pitch, so just seeing him running gives everyone a boost."
Ahead of Saturday's visit from Dundee, Rankin expects to have the same squad that beat Partick Thistle 1-0 at Firhill last week and he admits he has to bear in mind the club have two huge cup clashes coming up next week.
Accies host Queen of the South in the SPFL Trust Trophy semi-final on Tuesday night before welcoming Premiership side Hearts in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup on Friday, February 10.
He added: "There's no real change to the squad for Saturday.
"It has been a quiet week in regards to that.
"We have got a very busy schedule next week so we have had to tone down the demands we can put on the players physically.
"There is the potential for four hours of football over a few days next week so we need to be careful with that."
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