James McArthur will be ready to join his Hamilton team-mates for pre-season after a successful knee operation. "It was very successful," said the highly-rated 21 year old. "I went in and got the cartilage trimmed and I'm running again, so I'm very happy with that.

"I broke my ankle when I was a kid but this is the only major injury I've had.

"I played through the season for 11 or 12 weeks and I'm happy I've had the operation now."

McArthur's attempts at a summer break ended in disaster when he lost his passport and he could now go without a holiday in a bid to be at peak fitness for pre-season training.

"I'm not sure I'll go away," he said. "I want to make sure my leg is fit before I do anything to be honest.

"I'm in most days trying to make sure it's going to be okay for pre-season.

"I'm doing bike work and starting to run again so I'm happy about that."