Leeds United striker Somma returns to light training

Davide Somma is closing in on a return to full training for Leeds United. The 27-year-old has been sidelined since suffering tearing his anterior cruciate knee ligaments in pre-season training for the 2011/12 season. Somma had been earmarked for a return back in March but suffered a major setback in his rehabilitation. But now manager Neil Warnock has revealed he could be ready to join the rest of the Leeds squad in the next few of weeks, although he did warn it could be some time before Somma is ready to play first-team football again. "He's doing a little bit more training now, not just straight line running," Warnock says. "I asked about him two weeks ago and was told it was going to be four weeks before he started full training. By that reckoning it should be another four weeks before he's having some sort of a game." Warnock added: "But it's like anything – when you've not got a striker and you're desperate for one, you only think of the good things about him. You don't think that he hasn't played for God knows how long or how unfit he'll be, irrespective of the training he's done. "I've got to be careful or the expectations on him will be massive but it would be great to have him in the squad, even on the bench for a 25-minute cameo – something to change a game, which I believe he can do." Somma's chances of winning a place in the South African squad for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations would depend on being able to prove his fitness in time. But with no sign of him playing any part until at least November, coach Gordon Igesund will be unlikely to take the risk.