Hull City boss Phil Brown is refusing to rule out Ian Ashbee playing again before the end of the season.
Tigers skipper doing well with his rehabilitation
Hull City boss Phil Brown is refusing to rule out Ian Ashbee playing again before the end of the season.
The club's 33-year-old skipper suffered knee ligament damage in May last year, a situation that has been exacerbated by a reoccurrence of a degenerative bone condition.
A visit to knee specialist Richard Steadman saw 30 holes drilled into his right femur and Brown is confident the procedure, designed to encourage growth, has been a success.
While he is loath to rush the player's return before he is ready the Tigers chief is backing Ashbee to make a full recovery.
"The beauty of Ash of late is that he's got a new focus in life, and that is that he can see light at the end of the tunnel," Brown told the Hull Daily Mail.
"When anyone can't see that, I can understand how they must feel and how hard it is to motivate yourself.
"But all of a sudden I can see a realignment of his focus and I think he can see an end to all of this.
"We're seeing a different Ian Ashbee now and long may that continue."
