SAINTS loose forward Morgan Knowles' recovery is a "little bit ahead of schedule" - and coach Kristian Woolf expects him to be "raring to go" for the new season.

The Dream Team number 13 suffered a syndesmosis injury in the final game of the 2021 season while on England duty in France and he required closed-season surgery.

The 25-year-old Barrovian, who recently signed a new four-year-deal, has been rehabilitating well in training and will be gearing up to full contact once the players return from a short Christmas break.

Woolf said: "With Morgan you always get the discipline and the work ethic, he is going to get that side of thing right every time and that really helps when you are recovering from surgery or an injury.

"He will join the squad in full straight after Christmas and be back in, doing skills, a bit of running and start to return to a bit of contact.

"He’ll certainly be ready and raring to go for the season.

"With a player like Morgan and the way he works and the experience he has got in the squad now, that little bit of extra time where he is not with the group is not going to hurt him or his performances within the team."