CHERRIES boss Eddie Howe says he hopes Charlie Sheringham can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel as he bids to recover from long-term injury.

Striker Sheringham has been sidelined for 12 months since fracturing a bone in his foot during Cherries’ 1-1 draw with Brentford on Boxing Day 2011.

The 24-year-old sustained the injury when he took a kick to the top of his foot as he opened the scoring for Cherries at Griffin Park – his maiden goal in the Football League.

Sheringham’s attempts to hit the comeback trail during the past year have been blighted by setbacks, the frontman having suffered problems with his toe and heel.

And while his foot has healed, Sheringham had an operation in October to remove some floating bone in his ankle, putting back his anticipated return at least until the new year.

However, Sheringham, who has been receiving treatment at the FA’s headquarters at St George’s Park in Burton-upon-Trent, took a significant step on the road to recovery earlier this month.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “Charlie has felt good over the past couple of weeks and has been working extremely hard.

“He has been to the FA’s football centre where he has had one-to-one treatment with physios and done a lot of rehabilitation work.

“He has started running again for the first time and being on the grass has been a massive step forward in his recovery so, hopefully, we can push him on and he is over the worst of his problems.”

Howe was understandably reluctant to put a date on Sheringham’s return and added: “For any player who has been out for a year, you very much have to take it day by day.

“The good news is he is out on the grass again.

“The next thing will be getting used to a ball and then doing all the bits you really enjoy so, hopefully, he can continue on that road.”

Howe also said Miles Addison was making “good progress” with his recovery from a foot injury and anticipated the Cherries skipper being back in training in two to three weeks time.