St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson hasn’t given up hope of a Chris Kane comeback this season.
But the latest setback – albeit not a major one – will mean that it will have to be after the Premiership split.
“It’s slow progress,” Davidson reported. “He hurt his calf when he came back.
“Unfortunately for Chris we need to reset his target dates, which is frustrating for him.
“We need to get him back on the training pitch – as we did before – then hopefully he doesn’t pick up any more wee niggles.
“We can target the split. His calf injury is not a bad one. It’s just trying to get his training load right.
“We would love to see him back out on the pitch with the first team because he has been a big miss for the last 14 months.
“He was a key player for us and hopefully he gets up to speed quickly. It is important for him for next season too.”
Davidson added: “Chris works extremely hard.
“He’s had a couple of boys with him injured for a long period of time and that has probably helped him.
“But it’s tough for a player when you don’t see the light.
“We thought he was struggling, then he was out playing a friendly against Arbroath but then he hurt his thigh and now his calf.
“We just need to make sure he is ready to train and play games. It will be a big bonus to get him back.”
It won’t be until next season that the Saints players will have a good surface to play on at McDiarmid Park.
And they’ll have to end a long winless run on it while it’s bumpy and bare.
“Our results at home definitely need to improve,” said Davidson. “The pitch hasn’t helped us.
“We need to maybe change our style of play a little bit on the surface.
“We need to start games well at home, help the crowd get into it and create atmosphere and pressure.
“I thought we did that at times against Aberdeen on Saturday. It’s something we need to continue until the end of the season.
“It is not going to be a great passing or dribbling surface for players. It is about doing certain things well and applying pressure.”
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