St Johnstone players clap Chris Kane back onto the training ground

Chris Kane was clapped back onto the training ground by his St Johnstone team-mates, manager Callum Davidson has revealed.

The double cup-winning striker has been sidelined for a year with a knee injury.

There has been steady progression over the last few weeks and Wednesday morning’s session was a another big milestone for the 28-year-old, when he took part in some ball work with the rest of the Perth squad.

“Chris Kane and Murray Davidson joined in training for the first time today,” Davidson reported.

“Kano got a nice round of applause coming back and joined in the first round of boxes.”

Meanwhile, Ryan McGowan is unlikely to be available for Saturday’s clash with Rangers as a result of the groin injury he picked up early in the second half against Livingston.

“James Brown is fine, he’s managed to do all his recovery stuff,” said Davidson.

“With Ryan McGowan we are still waiting on scan results but hopefully that’s not too bad.

“He doesn’t feel any pain at the moment which is a bit of a concern because it’s quite badly bruised.

“But hopefully it will be good news on that front and he’ll be back in action quite quickly.”