STRIKER Byron Harrison is moving closer and closer to his Barrow AFC return after a successful ankle operation.

The 30-year-old front man, who netted 22 goals in his first season at Holker Street, underwent surgery last month to correct a problem which brought his 2016/17 campaign to a premature halt.

He has played only twice since January – both times as an uncomfortable-looking substitutes at the end of last season, scoring his final goal against Braintree – and has trained only lightly in pre-season.

However, the former Chesterfield and Stevenage man was seen warming up with AFC physio Matt Butterfield ahead of Saturday’s 3-0 win over Woking, and Barrow manager Paul Cox reported he was making good progress.

The expectation is that Harrison could be available once more before the end of the month, and Cox said: “Psychologically, Byron is in a really good place. We knew last year when Byron was warming up, when he was playing down at Braintree, in his eyes, you could tell that something wasn’t right.

“Since the operation, watching him run, watching him kick a ball, watching him sprint, Byron has had a massive smile on his face, but more so he has had that smile in his eyes. I think that tells me a lot about the lad – he is happy where he is, and he is happy that he knows he is not going to be far away from adding to our squad.”