St Johnstone defender, Bozo Mikulic, has undergone his knee operation.
And the Croatian centre-back believes he will be able to join the rest of the Perth squad for running sessions in pre-season.
A nine-month lay-off is standard for a ruptured ACL.
But Mikulic has previous experience of the recuperation process from early in his career, when he suffered the same injury to his other knee.
The 28-year-old was able to return quicker than expected back then, with a summer milestone now one of his motivations this time around.
“Bozo has had his operation,” head coach, Simo Valakari, reported.
“Of course, it’s very early days to say how it was.
“He’s out of the hospital now, starting his rehab. A lot of pain, still, as you would expect. But the recovery starts now.
“The feedback from the operation was there was nothing they didn’t expect to see.
“I believe he was a quick healer the last time he had the injury when he was younger.
“There’s his character. It’s a big thing.
“He won’t be cutting corners, and he will be going 24/7 for this rehab.
“Bozo is a real family man who loves his boy and wife the most in the world.
“But when I asked him how he was after they had been here for a couple of months and left, he said: ‘Now I can concentrate on my football 24/7, to do everything.’
“That’s what you need.”
A good target
Valakari added: “For him to be back ahead of schedule you need luck and everything to go right.
“We will see him in the summer.
“He said to me: ‘You will see me running with the rest of the guys when you start the pre-season.’
“It’s good to have these targets.”
Conversation