PETER Ramage says that he is on target for a March comeback as he continues his recovery from cruciate ligament damage.

The 24-year-old has not played since collapsing in an agonising heap during the 2-2 draw with Boro at the Riverside Stadium back in August.

Peter's initial fears were confirmed when he was told that his knee needed a total reconstruction and that he would most likely miss the remainder of the season.

But, with the versatile defender's rehab having gone better than expected, Ramage is hoping to make a return to action within the next few months.

"The plan is to hopefully be back playing by March," explained Peter.

"That's the date in my head, but obviously things can change during rehab.

"It couldn't be going better at the moment. I've started jogging and had no problems, and by the time New Year came I was doing more jogging.

"I've been doing strength work to build up the muscle around the knee, as there's a lot of muscle wastage and I had to build that up because I had to get the hamstrings and quads firing again.

"There's been a lot of bike work, too. But the most frustrating thing of all is not being able to play.

"All I want to do is play football, and not being able to, and having to watch, is pretty tortuous."

And, of the injury, Peter added: "I just remember the ball getting played down the line and I went to clear it and Mido just nicked it ahead of me.

"I landed off balance and I felt my thigh go one way and my shin the other.

"It was the first time I'd ever had an injury to my knee and I didn't know how bad it was until I saw the surgeon.

"I didn't feel a lot of pain at the time, though perhaps that was down to the numbness.

"They told me straight away it was the cruciate. I had torn all but a little thread of it - it was totally and utterly gone and needed total knee reconstruction."

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