Wales flanker Dan Lydiate will return to action next month after missing the Wales tour to New Zealand through injury.
The Ospreys forward believes he is not far from recovering from a shoulder problem, although he may not make the opening weeks of the Guinness Pro12 campaign.
Lydiate sustained shoulder and hamstring injuries against England in May and was subsequently ruled out of the three-Test trip to New Zealand.
“I don’t have a definite date yet but I am hoping it will be some time in September,” said Lydiate, who started just eight Pro12 games for the Ospreys last season.
“It should not be too long. My rehab is going well and I am happy with it.
“The first thing is to get fit. I started lifting weights a couple of weeks ago, so I am building my strength and doing my running. That is going well and starting to progress into contact. The physios are happy, I am happy and I am just waiting to get back out there.”
Lydiate suffered the double setback on May 29 when he damaged shoulder ligaments so badly that he required surgery.
He added: “It was a bad day to do my hamstring and shoulder in the same game.
“I have had a shoulder issue for a while and I went into contact and then realised something was wrong, then a few minutes later I went for a tackle, slipped and my hamstring went.
“So I had to come off because I couldn’t run, but after the game I couldn’t lift my arm so they sent me for a scan and it came up I needed an AC joint reconstruction.”
Ospreys medical performance manager Chris Towers said: “Dan is recovering well from surgery to reconstruct the shoulder ligaments he damaged against England.
“Ospreys medical performance manager Chris Towers said. “In addition, Dan also injured his hamstring in the same match. He’s recovering well on both fronts but still has some work to do.
“We’ll be looking to up the ante through this next batch of pre-season with a view to being able to confirm a return to play date in the next few weeks.”
James King, a second Wales and Ospreys back row, is also in rehabilitation after sustaining a neck injury in New Zealand.
“James is progressing well but we will continue to observe his recovery and progress over the coming weeks before we will be in a position to confidently predict when he will be available for selection,” Towers said.
