CARLTON’S leading goalkicker from 2019 is making significant progress in his return from injury.

After a groin injury sidelined him late last year, Harry McKay is set to ramp up his training in the coming weeks.

The youngster has made significant strides in his recovery since the new year, with Director of High Performance Andrew Russell positive about McKay’s progress.

With changes made to McKay’s program and preparation, Russell was pleased with how McKay was tracking.

“We’re really pleased with Harry. He was a bit slower than what we thought after the season but we completely changed his program,” Russell said. 

“We stripped it back, started it again and he’s back out there running and doing some fantastic strength work off the track which the guys aren’t seeing.

“He needs to be able to do that to transition back into skills. Expect to see him out there pretty soon with ball-in-hand.” 

At the other end of the ground, another exciting tall prospect has also stepped up his rehabilitation in recent weeks.

Having spent much of the off-season in a neck brace, Caleb Marchbank has recently been integrated into ball work and is expected to be available come the beginning of the season.

Russell said Marchbank was on track to return to full training in the coming weeks.

“That [neck injury] has tracked exactly how we thought it would track. It has healed completely and we don’t expect him to have any issue with his neck from here on in,” he said. 

“He’s back running, he’s back doing some light ball work and he’ll be back into the full program within the next 2-3 weeks: somewhere around the pre-season camp.”

“We expect him to be available for the start of the season.”

Russell also provided updates on the fitness of Marc Murphy, Brodie Kemp and a number of other Blues.

For his full comments, watch the video above.