KELTY HEARTS skipper Tam O'Ware could be "out on the grass" and stepping up his return to fitness in the next couple of weeks.

That's the hope of player / manager, Michael Tidser, who said that the club will be patient with the 30-year-old and won't rush him back into action.

Influential centre back O'Ware, who runs a football academy in Glasgow with his team-mate and current boss, has been out of action since late September after sustaining an ankle injury against Queen of the South.

The former Greenock Morton and Partick Thistle player was stretchered off in the latter stages of Kelty's 3-1 win and left the ground on crutches.

He has missed the club's last five matches and Tidser, who otherwise reported a clean bill of health in his squad ahead of Saturday's visit of Cove Rangers, said: "He's progressing well. His swelling's went down and he's started to do a bit of mobility work on his ankle.

"I probably reckon another week to 10 days he can then be out on the grass and doing a bit more running-type fitness, and then we'll obviously just take it from there and see how he feels.

"He's an experienced player for us so we don't want to rush him back and almost relapse from injury. It's one of those ones; we'll manage him carefully, and hopefully he's back sooner rather than later."

Kelty go into this weekend's match in fourth place in League One, one place and two points above their opponents, who have played a game fewer.

After opening the campaign with just one win, and three defeats, in their first five league games since relegation last season, Paul Hartley's side are six games unbeaten, having won the last three.

"Cove are a good side," Tidser continued. "I did say it when we played them up there, and obviously we managed to get a point up there as well.

"They're a good side with good experience and legs in the middle of the park. Mitch Megginson is clever in that wee pocket, so we know how tough it'll be, but it's a test.

"They're a full-time club as well, so these are the games you want to play in because I've told the lads that if we want to strive to push as high up this league as possible, when these games come round, you need to face them head on and hopefully take the game to them.

"It'll be no different this week. It's just something we need to get our teeth into come Saturday."