Maclean Ahead Of Schedule

By Nicholas Rigg
November 20 2005

Wednesday boss Paul Sturrock has said that striker Steven Maclean is making 'rapid progress' following his injury in pre-season. The ex-Rangers hitman broke his leg in the final warm up game of the season and was due to be out until early February, but is now expected back in late December.

Wednesday boss Paul Sturrock is hopeful of recieving a late Christmas present after hearing the news that striker Steven Maclean is progressing much faster than anticipated.

The ex-Rangers hitman broke his leg in the final pre-season game of the season, and was expected to be ruled out up until early February.

Sturrock told the club website: ''Steven is making rapid progress and is around four to six weeks ahead of schedule. So, he could be ready by late December or early January.''

Wednesday have been desperately lacking Maclean's prescence up front after the 23-year-old scored 20 goals last season, including his vital penalty in the play-off final, despite being ruled out of action for a large chunk of the season.

Maclean told the club website: ''I saw the specialist a couple of weeks ago and he said everything was fine. He said I was ahead of schedule which is pleasing. Since then I've been doing some running and kicked a ball a few times - nothing much. It is nice to try and get back involved, even being on the same pitch as the rest of the lads.''

Meanwhile, Sturrock was also hopeful of the return of Jon-Paul McGovern and Steve Adams, who are both expected to return to training next week. Sturrock won't want to bring McGovern back too early though after previous experiences.