The New Zealand international underwent surgery to correct a nagging hip problem in July.
Perth Glory striker Shane Smeltz believes this could be a “massive season” for him after undergoing hip surgery.
The 31-year-old has been plagued by the problem for over a year and decided to go under the knife in July to cure it once and for all, even it if ends up confining him to the sidelines for the start of the 2013/14 campaign in October.
New Zealand international Smeltz, who is the A-League’s all-time leading goalscorer, isn’t setting a date for his return to action but is confident that he will be able to quickly rediscover his best form for club and country when he does.
“I’ve got a time-frame of when to start running and when to start playing again and I’ve just got to stick to that now,” he told Football Australia.
“I’ll be doing everything I can from now on in terms of rehab to be ready as soon as I can, but it’s difficult at this stage to put an exact time frame on it.
“This could be a massive season and that’s another reason why I decided to get this operation done.
“I didn’t want to go through another season of battling through week-to-week and the surgeon said that once I recover, I’ll be feeling as good as ever. Obviously that’s what I want.
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