Craig Mackail-Smith believes he could be back in action in mid-September.

But the Albion striker is not setting any hard-and-fast deadlines as he battles back from the first major injury of his career.

The Scotland international suffered a ruptured Achilles in the game at Bristol City.

He told The Argus: “I’m going to miss the rest of this season and maybe a month or so at the start of next season.

“The summer has gone for me. I know I’m going to be in every day, working hard to get fitter and stronger.

“I’ve spoken to the physios about that and we want to work slowly towards pre-season. I will probably be about a month behind the boys in pre-season so it won’t be too bad, I don’t think.

"They have said it is six months out but with this injury you can’t rush it.

“I’d love to be fit and ready to go by mid-September but day by day will determine the chances of that happening."