EXPERIENCED defender Ian Harte could be ready to hand Cherries a timely boost by returning to action earlier than had first been anticipated.

Harte was expected to be sidelined over the hectic festive period after sustaining a calf injury in training during the last international break.

But the 37-year-old left-back has made encouraging progress and was back in full training with the rest of Eddie Howe’s squad at the end of last week. 

And should he continue to improve and suffer no ill-effects, Harte could be in contention for a squad return sooner than expected.

A key figure as Cherries have reached the quarter-finals of the League Cup for the first time in their history, Harte could even feature against Liverpool next week.

Harte, who has been restricted to four starts in the Championship, has played his part in League Cup wins over Exeter, Northampton and West Brom.

Cherries assistant manager Jason Tindall told the Daily Echo: “Ian trained with us last week and is close to being fit and ready. He came back into training after working hard with the physios for a couple of weeks.

“He joined in with a session last Thursday and came through fine. Now, it is just a matter of building back up his fitness levels and seeing if he has any reaction. Fingers crossed, everything should be fine.

“If the past few days are anything to go by then we could have him back a lot earlier than expected and back in contention for next week’s fixtures against Liverpool and Blackpool.”

Striker Tokelo Rantie is also on the mend after sustaining a partial dislocation of his left shoulder during Cherries’ 2-2 draw with Ipswich last month.

Tindall said: “TK has made great progress. He has been running on the training field but can’t train fully yet due to the contact side of things.

“But in terms of how he is feeling and how his shoulder is healing, everything is positive. He is being assessed on a daily basis before a decision is made as to when we bring him back into full training.

“You need to be careful with partial dislocations because there is a high percentage rate of recurrences so we don’t want to rush him back and potentially set him back even further.”

Meanwhile, defender Elliott Ward has also taken his first steps on the training pitch as he battles back from a long-term knee problem.

Tindall said: “Elliott joined in every other day last week and has so far had no reaction. As he has been out for a while, his return will be a gradual process and we are just easing him back into training.

"He is still probably a few weeks from being able to train every day and would also need a couple of games behind him before he would be in contention.”