SCOTLAND star Barry Ferguson is planning a dramatic return to the Blackburn side this season.

The midfielder is set to step up his rehabilitation following the fractured kneecap he sustained at the end of last year.

Ferguson will hit the training ground next week after getting the all-clear from Rovers medical staff.

And Rovers boss Graeme Souness even expects the £7.5m summer signing from Glasgow Rangers to be pushing for a first team recall as early as April.

Souness revealed: "Barry has gone away for a few days to get some sun on his back. He reached a point where, as players all do with long-term injuries, that he needed a break.

"But when he comes back on Monday, he will be thrown into the second phase of his rehabilitation, which involves running and kicking a ball.

" I know Barry is determined to get back playing football as soon as possible and I'm hoping to see him again within a month to five weeks.

"It was only a cracked bone, not ligaments and I would hope, unless he has any setbacks, that he would be playing again by the first week in April.

"The doctor might disagree with me, and we have an excellent medical team who are never far away, but I know what Barry's attitude is and if you ask him, he would even say before that!"

Souness has previously expressed a reluctance to throw Ferguson back into the fray this season, should he complete a remarkable recovery.

But with Rovers still lingering precariously above the Premiership relegation zone, he now accepts he would be a welcome addition to an injury-ravaged midfield.

Defender Lorenzo Amoruso is also ready to hand Souness a boost by returning to training on Monday following knee and calf injuries.

However, the Rovers boss does not feel the Italian is ready to solve Scotland's own problems by forcing his way into Bertie Vogts international plans.

Italian-born Amoruso, who spent six years with Rangers, has expressed an interest in playing for the Scots after learning he qualified through a new FIFA ruling that allows foreigners to play for the country they have played in for more than five years.

However, existing Scottish stars, such as former Rovers defender Christian Dailly, have expressed reservations over the loophole.

And as much as Souness would welcome Amoruso into the Scotland fold, he feels the Italian will not pursue his initial interest.

Souness said: "I think Lorenzo's attitude is that there has been some sort of negative vibe from the players and if there was even one negative vibe he wouldn't go near it. He just wants to be loved!

"He would be a fantastic player for Scotland and I think they need to look at all the options because, in my view, Scotland has never been so short of quality.

"If you go back to Eire in Jack Charlton's time, players who had never been there and didn't know where it was on a map ended up playing, so I think Scotland should be looking at every possibility.

"They don't have the strength in depth they enjoyed for most of my playing career, and in all the time I've been interested in football, this is the weakest Scottish football has ever been."