St Johnstone striker, Uche Ikpeazu, has cleared another big hurdle on the comeback trail.
A specialist has given the former Hearts man the final thumbs-up to begin ball work, head coach, Simo Valakari, confirmed.
Ikpeazu needed three operations following his summer arrival in Perth.
And, after building up his fitness work over the last couple of weeks, the injured knee and the muscles around it are ready to cope with the final stage of recuperation work.
“Uche is progressing,” Valakari reported. “He went to London on Thursday for tests.
“It was a final strength test to see that the strength is back, and everything is very good around the knee.
“The muscles, hamstring and quad, they are as strong as the other leg.
“Everything is very good.
“They had been treating him before so it made good sense to go there to do the tests to see the progression.”
Valakari isn’t at the stage of putting a target date on Ikpeazu’s involvement with the first team squad.
“It’s good news and it’s good to see him smiling,” said the Finn.
“I want to see him first in our football training then go from there.
“I think that will happen next week, in a modified way.
“We take it from there.”
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