Strike ace is back on track

Oct 16 2007

SAINTS yesterday received a massive boost when injured marksman Stevie Milne joined his team-mates out on the training ground.

As he seeks to bounce back from a lengthy spell on the sidelines, the prolific goalscorer managed a 45-minute shift beside the rest of the McDiarmid squad for the first time this season.

Although his return to full training is still expected to be at least two weeks away, Milne’s appearance signalled a major landmark in his recovery from lingering knee problems.

The former Dundee and Plymouth striker told PA Sport he now sees light at the end of the tunnel following nine months of injury troubles.

After playing through the pain barrier, Milne last started for Saints in the Scottish Cup tie against Ayr on January 9 then went under the knife.

However, he aggravated the knee just as he was returning to full fitness and has been out since a close season tidy-up operation.

“A little bit of bone was flaking off my left knee and needed to be cleaned up and given time to heal,” Milne (27) explained yesterday.

“I’ve had a few operations on it over the years for different things but this last one wasn’t a major problem.

“I had the operation in May and hopefully I’m over the worst of it now.

“I’ll be building the work up gradually after today and am hoping to be in full training within the next two or three weeks.

“Obviously I’ll need to keep that going for a while and get a few reserve games in as well.

“But I don’t want to set a date for a first team return because I could end up disappointed.”

Milne admitted he found it hard to look on as Saints jousted with SPL giants Celtic and Hibs in cup semi-finals last season.

“It was frustrating watching last year,” he said.

“The worst one was the League Cup semi-final against Hibs. Having played in earlier rounds at Ibrox and against Dundee United it was a hard one to take.

“Even now it’s still difficult. I usually look forward to watching the lads play but when it comes around, I don’t really enjoy any game too much.

“When you’re out for a long time you just think about getting back playing and that keeps you going.

“It’s frustrating and tedious but I see the other players every day and sometimes in the gym and they’ve helped get me through it.

“I was out for six months when I was at Dundee, so I missed a lot of football then as well.”

The striker said he has been impressed by the new-look Saints this season – especially up front.

“We had a bad start to the season but we’ve really picked up in the past couple of months and are doing really well,” he declared.

“We’re also quite good to watch just now so there should be more good things ahead.

“Andy Jackson has done really well since he came in and he perhaps deserved to be starting before he did.

“He’s come off the bench and impressed and taken his chance to get in the side.

“You need a lot of strikers at any club and long may it continue.

“Having competition doesn’t bother me. As long as I get back fit that’s the main thing and it’ll be up to the manager to decide if I’m worthy of a place.”

Saints boss Owen Coyle was yesterday awaiting word from a specialist about Martin Hardie’s groin problem and he still hopes that David Weatherston will be fit enough to resume training this week after he picked up an ankle knock.

Jamie McCluskey played the full 90 minutes in the 1-0 Forfarshire Cup loss to Dundee United on Friday and it’s a case of “wait and see” if his damaged ankle suffers a reaction.

Following a lack of match action, Peter MacDonald also lined up in a largely youthful Saints side at Tannadice and Coyle declared his overall satisfaction with the exercise.

“Peaso’s been in and out with injuries so it was important for him to get 90 minutes under his belt and he’ll be better for that,” he said.

“It was a good run-out for the younger players who’ve been performing well and it’s important they keep applying pressure for places.”