Richmond is pleased with the continued progress of injured pair Reece Conca and Chris Knights during the pre-season.

Conca tore his hamstring tendon in the opening minutes of the Tigers’ elimination final against Carlton, while Knights tore his patella tendon in the Round 7 clash with Port Adelaide.

Both players, however, are recovering well and will ramp up their training post-Christmas.

“Reece is in a fast running phase at the moment and his strength is really good,” said Richmond’s Elite Performance Manager Peter Burge.

“When he comes back in January, we’ll start to introduce him to some skill work.

“We’d hope, by the end of January, that he’s doing full skills with the group and, hopefully, in a position where he can play in the pre-season series . . .

“Chris has been with the group for two weeks now, doing intro skills.

“We’re taking a cautious approach, given the injury he had, but he’s certainly on track to be doing full skills, probably the second or third week of January.

“He’s looking really good.”