POPULAR Cherries star Stephen Purches is resisting the temptation to rush his injury rehabilitation as he steps up his comeback bid.

Purches has taken his next tentative moves towards fitness by jogging outside following extensive work indoors on a weight-bearing treadmill.

The Dean Court stalwart has been putting in the hard yards since suffering a fracture of the tibia and fibula in his right leg at Rochdale in February.

Providing an update on his condition to the Daily Echo, Purches said: “I got to the point where I had gone pretty much fully weight-bearing on the treadmill.

“The next stage was then to have a little go outside and see how it was, which I had been looking forward to for a long time.

“In the gym, all I could do was look out of the window and watch the lads train, and it was quite hard.

“It was just nice to be given the chance to have a little jog outside. It felt very weird and heavy to start with but I got a bit better as I went along and just got more confident with it.

“Being injured, you just always feel so far removed from everything. It was just nice to be within touching distance of the lads on the pitch.

“I know I have still got a very long way to go to even be able to join in training or anything like that, but it is the first step of getting closer to being back involved, which is the ultimate goal and why I am putting in all this hard work.”

Utility man Purches initially joined Cherries from West Ham in 2000 before returning in 2010 following three years at Leyton Orient.

Purches is remaining understandably reluctant to discuss timescales for his return.

But he revealed that he had been encouraged after working closer to the rest of Cherries’ squad had lifted his spirits during his painstaking comeback bid.

Purches added: “Each day, you just have to see how your body recovers from the day before and try to step it up a little bit here and there as long as you, hopefully, don’t have any reaction.

“I am sure there are going to be a few little setbacks along the way because there always are with long-term injuries.

“I haven’t set a date at all throughout this whole thing because I don’t want to be disappointed by not reaching it. I will be fit when I am fit.”

Meanwhile, Purches was keen to express his thanks to Cherries’ medical staff, led by physio Steve Hard, for their support.