Tangerines star making progress

28 August 2009 17:25
The Irishman was scheduled to be out for a year after tearing cruciate ligaments in both knees and suffering medial damage after pulling up in a game against Hibernian in April. But Daly, who has endured knee trouble before, has put in punishing hours of work in the gym to get himself to a position where he is in line to return a full six months ahead of schedule. The former Hartlepool striker visited a specialist on Friday and was told he can up his workload in four weeks, with a return to action pencilled in for a fortnight later. Daly had been doing double sessions to keep himself in shape and United boss Craig Levein revealed a recent body-fat check recorded his best results ever. Levein , whose own playing career was curtailed by knee injury, heaped praise on 26-year-old Daly for his remarkable resilience. He said: "Jon Daly has been for a consultation with his surgeon and he's happy with the progress he's made. "He could be back playing in six weeks' time, which is remarkable considering where he was after his injury. "He'll start full training in a month and then be looking for games after that. "He won't come back into the first team immediately, obviously; we'll have to get games for him but it's a massive boost. "When he got injured against Hibs, we thought he'd done both his cruciate and his medial ligaments and were looking at him being out for a year. "But he's a strong, strong boy. He's worked incredibly hard to get himself through it and he's in great shape. "We've taken his body fat index and it's at the lowest he's ever been. "He has unbelievable mental strength; most people would have crumbled under the strain of what he's been through but he just picked himself up and got on with it. "I really can't praise him highly enough and can't wait to have him back in the team. Anyone with that mental strength is a huge asset to have around the place." Until Daly and strike partner Francisco Sandaza - who is also nearing a return following hernia surgery - are back in contention, Levein is likely to stick with Danny Cadamarteri and David Goodwillie in attack. Ex-Everton player Cadamarteri scored twice against Hearts on the opening day of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League season and even though he was signed primarily as a winger, Levein has been delighted with his contribution. He said: "Danny will come back in now he's over his throat problem. "He's done very well for us since coming here. We brought him as a winger but, because of injury, he's played up front and I've been delighted with him. "He scored goals against Hearts and has looked good alongside David Goodwillie, so that's a part of the team I won't be changing at this stage."

Source: Team_Talk