Harrogate Town's ex-Grimsby Town attacker Max Wright in contention to take on Doncaster Rovers

Versatile forward Max Wright has returned to full training following four-and-a-half months out with an ankle problem and is in contention to make his first competitive appearance for the club this weekend.

Having impressed as a trialist in pre-season, the 24-year-old former Grimsby Town attacker picked up an injury just half-an-hour into his first appearance after signing a permanent contract with the League Two Sulphurites.

He underwent surgery in the summer, but his rehabilitation was hindered by an infection which developed in the site of the initial injury.

But, having finally been able to begin light training last month, Wright is now closing in on a return to action.

“Max could potentially be involved at Doncaster providing he makes it through the next couple of training sessions unscathed,” Town boss Simon Weaver told the Harrogate Advertiser.

"He has been training very well and, to be honest, I think we have all been taken aback by how he has approached it. He’s really thrown himself into it and attacked the sessions with gusto.

"He has been running at players and taking them on and throwing himself into tackles. The very first fifty-fifty he went into, he thumped into another one of the lads and straight away I just thought ‘he’s back’.

"He’s a had a long-term ankle injury, then an infection in there and some other complications, but he hasn’t come back and joined in with training looking to hold anything back for Saturday, he is giving it everything he has got to try and stake a claim.

"He’s a lad who sets standards in training and the beauty of someone like him going about his work like he has been doing is that it will have other lads looking over their shoulders and knowing that they have to make sure they’re giving 100 percent just like Max is.”

Wright was the 10th of 16 new faces to arrive at Wetherby Road over the summer, and went on to open the scoring early on in a pre-season friendly against Barnsley.

He was however substituted before half-time following what initially looked an innocuous collision with a team-mate and has not been seen in a Harrogate shirt since.

"I know it is a bit of a cliche, but having Max available will be like having a new signing because he hasn’t played since pre-season,” Weaver added.

"He’ll add something different. He’s got genuine pace and a bit of rawness about him and for defenders playing against him, I think he is quite unpredictable.

"And the beauty of Max is that he gives us so many different options in terms of where we can play him. He isn’t limited at all.

"If we play two up front it could work with him in there alongside Luke Armstrong, or he can operate as a number 10 or play out wide on either flank.

"The other big thing about Max is that he’s not at all flaky. He’s not someone who we have to worry about in terms of how we get the best out of him. He’s a lad who we know will go out and put in 100 percent effort every single game.”