SAINTS full back Jonny Lomax is ready to return after an agonising 14-month spell on the sidelines.

Lomax has been out of action since requiring a second knee reconstruction in March 2015.

Coach Keiron Cunningham believes the 25-year-old, who was in the England training squads before his last two injuries, will add something special to the team.

But Cunningham was keen to stress that Lomax's return will be managed and that could involve him playing initially from the rigours of the full back role.

Cunningham said: "It has been a long time to be out but if you are as talented as Jonny it definitely helps your cause.

"He has been running about for a long period and training with us.

"It is not like he has jumped out of a rehab bubble and onto the field.

"He got 25 minutes under his belt in the reserves the other day and so we have just got to get him through the next couple of days of training and we will see.

"He will start – when he returns – and we have thought what we can do with him already, it is a bit of a curve ball, but I am sure we will manage it."

This could mean Lomax spending some time in the three-quarters, possibly on the wing given the current absence of Adam Swift and Tommy Makinson.

Lomax's injury, sustained at Wakefield in March 2015, was the second time he had needed major knee surgery.

And that spell on the sidelines has been tough, but he has had support from club staff in battling back again.

Cunningham added: "All the medical staff have been supporting him, because when you are in rehab it is quite a lonely place.

"When you are out for a long time you don’t feel part of the squad or the team, so he has been in a dark place for a long period. He is out of that and he can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"He is not far off, but we have to manage how we play Jonny and what we do. To have Jonny in a Saints shirt is only going to be a bonus for us," Cunningham said.