Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin has revealed Jamie Hamilton's injury comeback has stalled again, with the defender breaking down in training whenever he looks to have turned a corner.
The 20-year-old is on the road to recovery from a thigh injury but he is no closer to pulling on an Accies jersey, having missed the entire season so far.
In recent months the Scotland youth international looked to be making progress, but Rankin has explained a recurring issue with the injured thigh is preventing him making his first outing since a 1-0 win over Morton in April last year.
Asked for an update on the player this morning, Rankin said: "I haven't seen him on the training pitch, there is no progress at all.
"It's his thigh and any time he runs, he seems to be okay. He can twist and turn and the medical team have done a great job to get him to progress to a steady rate.
"But when he comes back into any sort of football drill, he starts to feel some sort of issue in his thigh again.
"We need to take precautions with that when it happens.
"He's only been involved in two or three passing drills over the course of the last nine months but whenever he gets involved in them now, he seems to break down.
"It seems to be a kicking muscle or a problem with the opening up of his leg.
"At certain times it looks like he is accelerating pretty quickly and other times it is like he is going in the opposite direction.
"Jamie would be a massive part of our plans if he was fit, but we've had to go the whole season so far without his services."
In August Hamilton signed a contract extension to keep him at New Douglas Park until the end of the season, having previously considered a move away from South Lanarkshire during the summer.
Asked if he expected Hamilton to be involved before the end of the season, Rankin said: "I would never say no. I'm hopeful he can play this season.
"To have someone of his ability and the experience he has for such a young guy, it would certainly help us so I'm hopeful we can get Jamie back between now and the end of the season.
"He shouldn't be too far away once this issue is resolved because his fitness should be up."
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