Richmond vice-captain Brett Deledio remains confident the Achilles injury he is dealing with at the moment won’t sideline him for much longer.

Deledio, who has missed the past two games with the problem, told Channel Seven’s ‘Game Day’ on Sunday that he was working towards a return in the short term.

 “I have been running the last couple of days, but I have to make sure I can pull up all right and get some strength work into it.  I haven’t got a lot of spring and can’t explode off the mark,” Deledio said.

“It is a little tendon which runs down past your Achilles which is causing me grief, but I am strengthening it and, touch wood, I will be back out there sooner rather than later.  I am not going to be out for two months.

“I have had a pretty good history in the past of being able to heal pretty quickly, so I want to get back out there.”

In further injury news at Tigerland, key defender Alex Rance is expected to return within a couple of weeks from his broken foot, utility Chris Knights also is a week or two away, recovering from knee soreness, while ruckman Ivan Maric (ankle injury) is likely to be back in two or three weeks.

Forward Aaron Edwards, who has been out of action with a minor knee complaint, faces a fitness test this week.