Scott Wharton remains on track with his recovery from his long-term knee injury and is targeting a return in pre-season for Blackburn Rovers.

The centre-back suffered a major setback in April during the 3-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday. The 27-year-old suffered an ACL injury with other parts of the knee also damaged.

Wharton was instantly ruled out for the remainder of 2024 and the complexity of the injury meant a return this season was always unlikely. Instead, pre-season for 2025/26 has always been his aim.

He is hopeful of returning to individual work on the grass in the New Year, which would be a milestone in his recovery. That has taken a little longer than he'd first hoped but he remains on track to join the group next June for pre-season.

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"It's going alright, I'm hoping to be back out on the grass in the New Year," Wharton told BBC Radio Lancashire. 

"It has taken a bit longer than I thought, I'd hoped to have been out by this stage but previous injuries and the complex nature of this injury, I still think I am on track.

"I am trying to make sure I nail everything, my strength, to make sure I'm ready when I do go back out there. I am progressing and getting better every day. It's going well and the lads are performing well.

"Pre-season is very definitely the target, it's sensible. Pre-season, first day of training, that is my target, absolutely. It's something to aim for."

This is not Wharton's first experience of a serious injury, having torn his Achilles in December 2020, just more than four years ago. That recovery took one year and he returned in the midst of Rovers' last six-game winning run in the Championship.

That previous injury has caused some minor complications but it's also given Wharton valuable experience of how to mentally prepare for such a long slog.

"With any type of long-term injury, it's not always a straight line from first day to back on training, it takes time and there are bumps in the road," he said.

"This is a very serious injury so I am willing to bide my time, I'm not cutting corners, I am doing everything properly. I knew straight away.

"There was a crunchy pop and you know. It was a bad one. The previous one has helped me, it was my Achilles on this leg. That has not helped the situation and it's why I'm at the stage I'm at.

"I have been through it before, I know what it's like and I can come back. I know I can do it and I'm more determined than ever to do that."