Pie hopeful of a finals campaign

COLLINGWOOD veteran Tyson Goldsack is hopeful of making a miraculous return to football in time for finals.

The popular defender had a knee reconstruction in mid-March but has made quicker-than-expected progress in his rehabilitation.

It is some welcome news for the much-improved Pies who lost silky playmaker Daniel Wells to a season-ending foot injury in Collingwood’s impressive win over Melbourne on Monday.

Wells, 33, is contracted for next year but will likely discuss his future with Collingwood officials towards the end of the season.

Goldsack, 31, had a quad graft to repair his ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and has already resumed running, ahead of schedule.

It has left the door slightly ajar on a shock comeback to senior football inside seven months, in what would be one of the AFL’s fastest recoveries from a traditional knee reconstruction.

AFL players typically take up to 12 months to recover from a knee reconstruction.