JAMES Beattie fears he could struggle to win an immediate recall to Sheffield United's starting line-up, despite making remarkable progress in his battle to overcome an injured knee.
Beattie, the former England international who scored 22 goals during his debut season at Bramall Lane, is scheduled to return to full training this week after receiving the all-clear from doctors on Thursday.
But Kevin Blackwell revealed how Beattie acknowledged he may have to put his ambitions on hold after watching Billy Sharp claim a hat-trick during Saturday's 3-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers.
Were you at the game? Post your comments below."Beatts has astounded me with the speed of his recovery," the United manager said. "He's been itching to get involved again and he's due to start doing football work again in the next few days.
"He's been doing lots of fitness routines in the gym. The medical staff examined him and told us that he's ready to join in with us properly.
"I'd written off Beatts until October at the earliest but, at the rate he's going, it could be the end of this month.
"Mind you, he watched the game against QPR and told me afterwards 'The way the rest of the lads are doing, I don't expect to come straight back in'."
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All sport categoriesThe full article contains 242 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
