CHERRIES star Josh Gowling faces a crucial 48-hour rehabilitation period to determine whether he is ready to rejoin Kevin Bond's injury-ravaged squad.

The cultured central defender was ruled out of Cherries' trip to Swindon at the 11th hour after turning his left ankle in training at the end of last week.

Gowling sustained a slight ligament sprain after fallingawkwardly, although his condition improved significantly over the weekend.

The 23-year-old has been receiving treatment from Steve Hard and worked yesterday on an exercise programme under the watchful eye of Cherries' physio at Canford School.

And providing he continues to make good progress, Gowling could resume training on Thursday and be in contention for a return against Carlisle on Saturday.

Hard told the Daily Echo last night: "Josh has definitely improved and there is a chance that he could train on Thursday. He did a lot more work today so we'll see how it reacts tomorrow.

"He increased his exercises in the gym and was able to stand up doing his programme. When he did it initially, he was non-weight bearing but his exercises are full-weight bearing now.

"If everything goes to plan, we can progress him to jogging tomorrow and on Wednesday and take it from there.

"If I'm happy with what he does on Tuesday and Wednesday and he doesn't have any major reaction, he could train on Thursday.

"But if I'm not happy and he can't do certain things I ask of him then he won't train. We will know more in the next couple of days."

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Neil Moss is still recovering after suffering concussion in a training ground accident on Friday.

Moss, who also missed Saturday's trip to Swindon, has been nursing a broken nose and a major headache after taking a heavy blow to his face during a practice match.

Hard added: "He feels a hundred times better than he did on Friday but has still got a slight headache. He's seen the doctor and won't be allowed to train until his headache has gone. We will check him every day to see how he feels before a decision is made as to when he can resume training."