St Johnstone boss Craig Levein shares new return timeframe for Uche Ikpeazu

St Johnstone striker, Uche Ikpeazu, is ahead of schedule on his return from a summer knee injury.

And the former Hearts man may even be back at McDiarmid Park by the end of next month.

Ikpeazu was Craig Levein’s first close-season signing AND the first to pick up an injury.

The powerful forward damaged knee cartilage in an accident at home.

The initial verdict was that Saints fans wouldn’t see him on the field until September at the earliest, possibly even October.

But the latest update from Levein gives hope that there may be an Ikpeazu debut sooner than that.

“Uche, I think, will be nearer the end of August,” said the Perth boss.

“He seemed to be quite positive about that.

“He’s going to go to St George’s Park (the English FA’s national football centre) in between.

“So he will leave home and drop into St George’s for a couple of weeks as part of his rehab.

“They’ve got loads of experienced people there.

“It would be good if Uche didn’t miss much of the league.

“He’s obviously going to have to do some work here before we get him out playing but we’ll see how he is.”

Sven Sprangler and David Keltjens should both be in the squad for Saturday’s second Premier Sports Cup fixture against Morton.