ATHLETIC centre back Sam Fisher has spoken of his relief at being given the green light for a return to action - and to not have to wear a protective face mask.

The 22-year-old is in line to return to the side for tomorrow's trip to Dundee United, almost four weeks since he last played since suffering concussion and a facial injury.

Former Dundee player Fisher was hurt, and substituted, midway through the Fife derby with Raith Rovers on January 2, in a challenge with Lewis Vaughan, also involved Pars team-mate, Chris Hamilton.

Although Dunfermline's two subsequent fixtures were postponed, Fisher admitted it hasn't been the easiest period, which came after he was concussed during a home match with Partick Thistle on December 16.

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"It's been a tough month or so for me. It's just been so stop-start, but I've a good week's training in me now," he said.

"I think I said after the Ayr game (on December 30, his first back after being injured against Thistle) that I felt fit as anything but, to be fair, I'm naturally relatively quite fit anyway. I came back, did a bit of running, felt fine, and wasn't too far off it fitness-wise, but it was just getting used to the mask. That was the main thing for me.

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"Luckily, I've been given the all-clear not to wear the mask anymore. Thursday was the first day without the mask, so I've just been doing your heading, clearances, everything you'd expect.

"Everything feels back to normal.

"I'm buzzing, genuinely. If you're watching Hammy (Hamilton) or someone like that, who's worn a mask, you wouldn't think it's that impact, but, when you've got it on, you're looking down at your feet and you can barely see the ball because it's double vision. The bits under your eyes are plastic really - it's just brutal. I'm buzzing the specialist has given me the green light to take it off now and enjoy playing football better!

"We've got two of them, Hammy and Matty (Todd, who have worn a face mask), but they're the exact same. Hammy struggled to see the ball but you wouldn't notice it.

"You've got to properly hunch over to see the ball but, like I say, I'm just buzzing that I don't need to wear it anymore and I can just get back to playing normally."

Fisher revealed he had to have his nose "put back into place again" after having stitches taken out following the injury, but otherwise is raring to go.

He visited a concussion specialist at Hampden earlier this month, and continued: "It was a wee bit longer because it was the second concussion rather than the first one, but there were protocols. Yeah, it took a wee bit longer than the first one, but I think that's just because of the more damage that this one did rather than the first one.

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"Obviously, it was more impactful on my face and all that kind of stuff. I was fine after about a week and a bit. I was back training last week, would've been fine to play the game last week if it was on, but obviously the pitch wasn't looking great, so I managed to get an extra wee bit of running. I've got a full week's training this week as well, so I feel as fit as I can be."

When asked if he was surprised to be so quickly, Fisher replied: "No, because they gave me a protocol to follow, and I followed it step-by-step.

"Probably not so much the Queen's Park game (last Saturday) - I think I was aiming for this game (Dundee United) - but I felt fine, followed all the protocols. By the start of the week, halfway through the week, I knew I was going to be in contention to be involved in the game, but the game was off, and it gave me an extra week's training "We've got a few boys that are back fit as well now, so we're looking a lot better squad-wise, and I'm feeling a lot fitter myself.

"I think you saw from the Queen's Park game on the telly that we were down to the bare bones really. A couple of boys came off - Azza (Aaron Comrie), Jak (Alex Jakubiak) - but we've got a couple of boys coming back now, maybe even more than a couple, we'll see how the next couple of days go.

"We're looking back to full strength, obviously taking away the longer-term ones, but we're looking really strong going into Saturday."

Dunfermline head into Saturday's clash with Championship leaders United without a win in their last five games, and having not beaten their opponents this season.

They did, however, claim a draw at Tannadice in August, when only a goal deep into stoppage time by Mathew Cudjoe denied them all three points.

"It took a 96th minute wonder strike from the boy, to be fair, to get an equaliser. I thought we did really well in the game, looking back on it," Fisher added.

"We'll do a wee bit on them on Friday, in terms of video, but that's a game we're looking forward to. Obviously, it was a really good turn out there from both sets of fans last time because I think it was their opening game (in the league) in the stadium, and Dunfermline fans travelled in their numbers.

"I'm sure it'll be a good one."