SAM Charles has been given the green light to return to action before the end of the season.

A cruciate-ligament injury has kept the Bridport striker sidelined for over a year but he is now back in light training and looks set to feature in the club’s fight against relegation in the not too distant future.

Sam’s brother Joe is also recovering from a similar knee operation while Tom Richardson has suffered a setback in his return from a virus.

Bees’ boss Trevor Senior told Echosport: “Sam is still continuing his build up but he has been given the all clear to play before the end of the season, which is fantastic news.

“Joe still has a bit of a way to go while Tom has had a bit of a setback with his recuperation.

“Shane Evans is also going to be out for a couple of weeks following the recurrence of a hamstring injury, but Sam Filkins is back available this weekend after missing the midweek draw with Brislington due to university commitments.”

The Bees have drawn three of their last four games but they are still in the midst of an alarming winless run which now stands at 12 games.

Senior will be hoping to buck that trend on Saturday at home to Hallen (3pm) but knows his side will have to be at their best to make that happen.

He added: “It is going to be another tough one that is for sure.

“Looking at our three games this week we always knew it was going to be difficult.

“We drew with Buckland last Saturday when we were perhaps unfortunate not to win, and we picked up another point against second-placed Brislington on Tuesday when we also kept a clean sheet.

“Those two sides are both very strong as are Hallen but hopefully on Saturday we can secure another positive result.

“Since the spell of bad weather we have come back and done well, and the aim now is just to try and keep it going and pick up as many points as we can.”

Bridport currently sit 18th in the Toolstation Western Premier Division, just two points above the bottom two, while Hallen lie fifth.

Bees: S Filkins, Condliffe, Hailu, Stordy, C Clarke, Hayter, Luke, Wise, Dovell, Symes, B Clarke, Legg, M Buckler, J Filkins, Day.