Southend striker Barry Corr will resume full training this week with a view to making his first-team return this month.
Corr has been sidelined for 17 months since suffering a knee injury in April 2011 at the end of a campaign in which he scored an impressive 21 goals.
The 27-year-old missed all of last season before his recovery received a setback this summer when he then sustained a slight groin tear, but Corr finally appears close to his long-awaited comeback.
"I don't like to set targets because I've ended up being disappointed by doing that before but I will be back in to full training this week," he told the club's official website.
"I've been running and doing ball work for a little while so the next step is to back in to full contact training.
"If that goes well then there's a chance I could be involved in our next home game against Exeter in a couple of weeks' time if not before."
