Dundee will have a new face in training this week.
Nottingham Forest defender Aaron Donnelly joined the Dark Blues on loan in July but picked up an ankle injury in his first week training at Dens Park.
And was expected to be on the sidelines for some time yet.
However, Dark Blues boss Tony Docherty has revealed a speedy recovery has seen the Northern Ireland U/21 international arrive back in Scotland well ahead of schedule.
And he’ll rejoin his team-mates on Tuesday morning with Docherty full of praise for the 20-year-old’s attitude.
“He came back up on Monday, his flight was delayed and he didn’t get in until about 4am,” the Dundee boss said.
“I told him to take the morning off and do his physio checks in the afternoon, but he wanted to be in first thing with the rest of the lads.
“I think that says a lot about him, he was desperate to get back and get going again.
“He’s well ahead of where we expected him to be, he’s back much quicker.
“He damaged the ligaments but the ones around it were intact, so he was able to work hard and shave at least three weeks off his recovery time.
“So he will train with the boys this week and we’ll see where he is for the weekend.”
Portales
Docherty also expects to have further options to choose from ahead of this weekend’s Premiership clash at Celtic Park.
Mexican striker Diego Pineda has been out with a slight hamstring injury but did train on the McDiarmid Park pitch ahead of the club’s most recent fixture.
Tyler French, too, is nearing a return to full fitness after nine months out with a broken leg while Antonio Portales has a date set for his return to training following a knee injury.
Docherty added: “Antonio is out of his boot and all going well he will be training with us again from next Monday.
“Diego Pineda and Tyler French both played ninety minutes in a bounce game we had against Aberdeen last week.
“So we have a really good bill of health at the moment.
“The last week has been great for getting the boys all up to speed and getting fitness work into the players who joined us a bit later.
“We did a lot of tactical work as well so hopefully that will all help us in the weeks and months to come.
“I was happy with the squad I had when the window closed so it’s all about focusing on the 18 or so games we’ve got between now and the winter break.”
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