Donnie sustained the injury last January when an apparently innocuous training injury turned out to be far worse than first suspected, the more precise diagnosis revealing cartilage damage that effectively ruled him out for the rest of the season.
"It didn't look like it would be too much of a problem at all," explanined Donnie. "It was thought that I had just nipped the cartilage and I was hopeful of being back in three or four weeks after a routine clean-up procedure. But when they went in and had a look at the injury it was a lot more serious than they had thought."
All this from what had seemed a minor twist of the joint, sustained in the last minute of a training session. "I knew it didn't feel right, but it wasn't painful in any way."
The article reports that Donnie can't name the precise date of his return, but the expectation is that he should be back in action – perhaps initially for Ayr, confirmed as his club attachment last week – within a few weeks. He admits he may have pushed too hard with his recovery programme in the hope of squeezing in some matches at the end of last season.
You can read the article here