Winger Luciano Civelli is stepping up his rehabilitation from the knee ligament injury he sustained towards the end of the season, but still has a long way to go before he is fully fit. The Argentinian received good news from his London-based surgeon Andy Williams on Wednesday.

Physio Matt Byard told the club site: "It was an important meeting for Luciano and it went very well.

"The first 12 weeks following surgery of the sort that Luca's had are often very slow and a frustrating time, but he has dealt with it well and reached all the short term goals set out for him.

"The muscles are strengthening around the knee joint and the specialist is delighted with the progress he has made.

"He has now been given the green light to step up his rehabilitation in what will be a crucial time for him over the next four to six weeks.

"He has a great deal of strengthening and balance work to do before he can start to jog, which we hope to see him doing in August if he continues to progress.

"There is a long journey ahead yet from what is obviously a complex injury, but his recovery is very encouraging. It's a case of taking things one step at a time and continually monitoring his progress but if he carries on as he is, we will get a good result at the end of it."

The former Banfield player, who recently spent time back in Argentina, isn't expected to return to action until early in 2010.

Meanwhile, full-back David Wright is set be OK to start pre-season training with the rest of the squad on July 2nd. The ex-Crewe and Wigan man missed the end of the season with a hamstring problem.

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