CAPTAIN Kyle Benedictus is ready to hand Athletic a huge boost by returning to the squad for tomorrow's clash with Ayr United.

Manager James McPake has revealed that the 32-year-old has returned to training and could be involved when the Honest Men visit KDM Group East End Park.

The centre back played 43 games in all competitions last term as Dunfermline romped to the League One title, but has been restricted to just 10 appearances this season due to injury.

After sustaining a fracture in his foot during a match at Inverness Caledonian Thistle in September, Benedictus returned for a Fife derby defeat at Raith Rovers in October, during which he picked up a thigh problem.

He then returned to the team as a substitute, against Ayr, in late December, but a reoccurrence of that injury has kept him sidelined since.

Dunfermline Press:

Chris Kane, who missed Tuesday's draw at Inverness, is likely to return after illness, as McPake explained: "He was due to start the game on Tuesday night but he got ill. He’s trained the last couple of days and so has Lewis (McCann).

"Kyle has also been training and he’ll be in the squad. He’s back in and he’s looked great, actually. It’s very good to have him back. He’s a big influence on the squad, and even in training, just driving standards.

"He’s done all his end-stage rehab. We got the go-ahead the week before to step him up and see how it goes, and then put him into training.

"Touch wood, there’s been no kick-back yet. He’s done Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, so, he’s at the end of his first week of training, and he trained match-day minus one stuff on Friday.

"Before, he’s been going away and doing his own stuff, so we’ll put him in the squad and see if we need him against Ayr."

McPake said that McCann, who was forced off in the first half in the Highlands, has trained well in recent days and could also be in contention for tomorrow's match.

"Lewis’ hamstring was tight and, to be fair, if Chris Kane had been available then Lewis would have sat the game out, just because of the way he plays," the manager continued.

"If you see the sprinting that him and Josh Edwards do and the high-speed running, I’ve never seen anything like the two of them.

"Obviously, when I played there was no data, so I don’t know about any of those players back then, but the two of them hit high numbers in every game, and in an ideal world he would have sat out Tuesday. In the end, he only got 20 minutes anyway.

"That could be my fault, because if he knew he wasn’t going too play was it psychological. People say he should be ready to play at any given moment, but that’s not the way it works.

"But he’s had everything looked at and he’s okay. He’s trained well in the last couple of days."