Defender Wayne Milera is expected to resume running on grass early next week as he continues to recover from knee surgery. 

The 26-year-old suffered the injury in Round Three and has had a lengthy stint in rehabilitation since then.

“Wayne ran on the ultra-g on Monday which was exciting, and he got through that really well, so he’ll do that again on Friday,” Adelaide High Performance Manager Darren Burgess said.

“It’s pretty exciting for Wayne, he’s been through a pretty tough period, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel so that’s great.

“He’ll be out with the boys next Monday running on the track so that will give everybody a lift coming into the last week of the season.”

Milera will be working towards a return to the main group for pre-season training.

“Junior is one of the most professional guys we have here, he’s attacked everything really well and the rehab staff have done a great job with him, we still expect it to still be a process from here, but he’s done superbly,” Burgess said. 

“We expect Wayne to be back for most of pre-season, he might miss the first couple of weeks but given the length of time he’s had off to build up the strength we think he’ll be able to do the majority of pre-season.”

As confirmed on Monday, forward Taylor Walker will miss at least one week after being struck in the eye in the third quarter of Sunday’s win against the Bulldogs. 

Walker met with a specialist and underwent laser eye surgery on Monday.

Injury list as of Tuesday, August 13

Taylor Walker (eye) 1-2 weeks

Jordon Butts (foot) season

Luke Pedlar (shoulder) season

Patrick Parnell (shoulder) season

Wayne Milera (knee) season