Hibernian talisman Martin Boyle hopes to step up his injury recovery with a return to action against Bournemouth this evening.
The winger has been sidelined since learning the devastating news in November that an expected minor knee operation had uncovered historic cruciate ligament damage.
The 30-year-old missed the World Cup with Australia as a result of the extensive surgery and has been sidelined ever since.
However, he has returned to full training with the Easter Road side at their warm-weather training camp in Spain and is desperate to reach another milestone by featuring in his first match since October last year.
Even playing a small part in Lee Johnson’s side’s friendly against Bournemouth would be a significant boost to both the player and his club ahead of the first-leg of their Europa Conference League qualifier in a fortnight’s time and the Premiership kick-off on August 5.
Boyle said: “The recovery’s going great. I’m obviously back training with the squad and in full contact.
“It’s good for myself. I’m still setting little goals and hopefully I can start competing for a place in the pre-season games soon.
“I don’t pick the team but hopefully I’ll be in contention for the Bournemouth game. I’m training well.
“I don’t really want to put a timeframe on it - obviously I need to be wary.
“I need to get at least a few weeks of full-contact training under my belt and hopefully I can build my minutes up from there.”
The timing of his injury could not have been any worse for Boyle, who as a result missed out on World Cup games against France, Tunisia, Denmark and eventual winners Argentina at the Qatar finals.
But the former Dundee and Montrose forward is determined to put the dark days of his recovery behind him and get back to his best.
He added: “It’s still a tough one to take but these things happen, I’m afraid, and unfortunately I missed out on [the World Cup].
“Obviously I’ve been unlucky with the injury and hopefully I can gain this year back later on in my career.
“It’s not all positive, you’ve got to take the negatives as well, and be strong in the head and soldier through it.
“The rehab process is quite extensive and long, and a bit irritating, but it has to be done.
“A lot of people have done it and been in my situation, so it’s nice to see that they’ve got back to full fitness and what they were before the injury.”
