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ROBBIE Gray has taken a major step in his rehabilitation, returning to running for the first time in almost six months since his horrific knee injury.

Gray resumed light running at Alberton this week as he continues the long recovery process from his full knee reconstruction in April.

The severity of the injury resulted in significant nerve damage to his right calf, which delayed his return to running.

The 24-year-old said he was pleased with how his knee felt after a light jog on Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s been almost six months and I’ve started off pretty slowly, but it’s just really good to be back out here running,” Gray told PTV.

“The knee felt pretty good.”

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New high performance manager Darren Burgess said the feedback on Gray’s return to running had been positive.

“I’ve spoken to the physios and they were pleased with how he went,” Burgess said.

“He did all that was expected of him and he’s pulled up well from it.

While Burgess aknowledged the return to running was an important step in Gray’s recovery, he said it was far too soon to speculate on when he could return to AFL action.

“It’s a serious injury and Robbie still has a lot of work ahead of him, so to even think about a return date, it’s just far too soon,” he said.

Gray, who has played 70 games for the Power since debuting in 2007, said he’d been working hard on re-building the strength in his calf.

“The knee is actually feeling really good, but until I was able to build the strength of my calf up, I haven’t been able to jog,” Gray said.

“It’s still not at full strength, but it’s at a point that’s allowed me to start jogging and I’ll have to keep on working on building up that strength.”

The exciting forward said while he was hopeful of a return in the early stages of the 2013 season, he didn’t want to rush it.

“It was a pretty serious injury, so I’ll just have to see how I go over the summer,” Gray said.

“I’ve still got a lot of work ahead of me so we’ll just have to see how it progresses.”

Gray will travel with his teammates to Milan and London late in Octobter to continue his rehabilitation.