The 27-year-old crowd favourite has been plagued by knee trouble for the last couple of years and has been sidelined with his latest problem since April.

But Cook is back out on the training ground with his team-mates and hoping to be back in the first-team picture before the turn of the year.

"I started running 10 days ago and it's going really well," he said.

"It's been the hardest rehab I've ever done for any injury so to finally get out running, to see the boys and get back involved is a great feeling. It's basically like pre-season for me now.

"The target we set was round about Christmas time so I'm bang on for that. It's just a case of getting fit now so I'll be working hard for the next two or three weeks to get back as soon as I can. But I can't rush it, I'm going to take my time with this one and make sure I'm right."