Newcastle United defender passes major milestone on injury comeback

Jamaal Lascelles is on course for a return in December or January with his next milestone now firmly on the agenda after a shattering knee injury last term.

The club captain is targeting a return to light training in due course and expects to make a full recovery after suffering the horror moment in last season's 4-3 win over West Ham at St James' Park. Speaking about the next steps ahead of his return to the Premier League stage, Lascelles said: "In terms of my recovery from my ACL injury, I'm well over the worst now. I should be back on the grass soon and jogging in the next few weeks.

"It’ll take me a while to build up from there but I'm happy to be ticking those boxes and now it's about getting my boots back on and progressing slowly that way."

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Lascelles has watched on as Newcastle narrowly missed out on Europe last season and the defender who celebrates his 31st birthday next month is eager to be back to play his part. The former Nottingham Forest star, and one of Newcastle's longest serving players, said: "Obviously, it is tough - mentally just as much as physically - but fortunately for me, I enjoy working out and going in the gym. I spend half my day in there, but it's something I like doing.

"To other players who don't, it would probably be a lot more difficult but I quite enjoy the challenge, setting myself weekly goals and monthly goals, hitting them and then moving on to the next one I still try and do what I can around the group, even though I'm not out on the pitch."

Lascelles' return should come at a similar time to Dutchman Sven Botman, who suffered a knee injury last March just before Lascelles. The pair have been working closely together to make their returns.

Lascelles said: "It's great when we’re in the gym at the same time and the boys have been fantastic and really supportive. Sven Botman and I have formed a really close relationship and we both say that it's quite difficult going to the games.

"I'll always go and be in the dressing room to support the boys but when you're injured for a while like us, it can be hard to go and watch because you want to be out there, fighting for your team-mates and playing in front of the fans. But it's sport and it happens and I know I come out much stronger on the other side.

"We've started the season well so it's just about not getting too high and not getting too low, keep trusting the process and training hard."