Fulham eye early Bullard return

2Slick

Fulham are hopeful midfielder Jimmy Bullard will make a return to action towards the end of this season.

The 27-year-old injured knee ligaments at Newcastle in September and surgeon Dr Richard Steadman said the injury was one of the worst he had seen.

However, boss Chris Coleman told the Sunday Mirror: "We've not ruled out him playing again this season.

"The latest he will be back is pre-season but he's on schedule and it will be great if he plays before then."

Renowned surgeon Steadman operated on Bullard for a second time in December and told BBC Sport back then: "There's no guarantee he'll come back - I can never guarantee something like that.

"But all the signs are positive. We had a video that showed the injury and it was as bad as it gets."

Bullard suffered the injury in a tackle with Newcastle's Scott Parker during a Premiership match - only two months after he signed from Wigan.