Fulham midfielder Jimmy Bullard is close to being given the green light to resume full training following a year on the sidelines.
"Jimmy is on the verge of joining in with contact training with the younger players rather than the actual reserves," Cottagers boss Lawrie Sanchez told the club's official website.
"This will be on a week-by-week basis, he needs three or four weeks before he perhaps comes into contact with the first-team players.
"His recovery has gone very well but he hasn't had someone crunch into him yet. That is now the next stage for him.
"Every time there is a crunch tackle with Jimmy, people will look and see how he is with it.
"Once he's had a few of those and gets up from them, people will say 'let's get on with it'."
