Dragons RFC ace Aaron Wainwright has revealed his hamstring injury is recovery well as he counts down his return for action with the Men of Gwent.
Wainwright sustained the injury on Wales duty in the final minute of the first Test defeat against Australia in Sydney in July.
The 27-year-old has been busy on the comeback trail ever since and while no date is pencilled in for his return the all-action back row is happy with the progress made.
"I am getting there," said Wainwright. "I went to see the surgeon again on Monday just to revisit a second scan and it's healing well.
"Hopefully I will be back soon, I have been running and it's just a case of getting my right and left legs up to the same strength.
"I have spoken to the physio department about it but don't want to make any targets, I want to make sure it's right and go from there.
"I keep having little battles with the physios about trying to push them to see how fast I can do things," added Wainwright.
"I have had three running sessions so far and Wednesday was my first with some of the other boys who weren't training.
"I was trying not to push myself to keep up with them but at the same time I want to get back early if I can, as long as it is safe to do so.
"There have been conversations about what game, but a lot depends on how my strength comes back.
"I have done some testing scores that have been quite promising but whether they keep progressing as they have, we will see.
"I'll take each week as it comes and if things start to speed up, then I will hopefully align with that."
The recovery is uncharted territory for Wainwright having avoided serious injury since making his Wales debut in 2018.
And revealed how talking to new Dragons RFC captain Ben Carter had helped with his rehabilitation.
"I roomed with Ben in Australia and he did something similar last season, so he reassured me and I asked him about his recovery process,” he said.
"It's been good to chat with someone and gauge where I am at in terms of my progress.
"It's my first major injury and first surgery so it's a new experience,” he added.
"I've tried to speak to some of the boys who have had the same thing and they all said that when they came back the one that they injured was stronger and in a better place than the other.
I was trying not to push myself to keep up with them but at the same time I want to get back early if I can, as long as it is safe to do so...
