AS pre-season draws closer, Rovers midfielder Brett Emerton has revealed that he is hopeful of being fit for the start of the league campaign following cruciate knee ligament surgery.

The Australian international missed the last four months of last season - the longest spell he’s ever spent on the sidelines.

“Everything's going really well,” said the 30-year-old.

“I’ve been running for quite some time now and I’ll be looking to rejoin the team during pre-season.”

“The longest spell before this is probably two to three weeks so it's something I haven’t encountered before during my career.”