IAN MILLWARD has had the best bit of injury news since the season started.

Injured trio Craig Dean, Heath Cruickshank and Paul Wingfield could all be back in action within a month.

Fears that skipper and play-maker Dean would need immediate surgery on a damaged ankle have been removed, and, given his current rate of improvement, he could be back in action towards the end of March.

Initial diagnosis had Dean out for eight to 10 weeks - and the possibility of surgery which would have put him out for the season.

Dean is still likely to need an operation but Leigh are hoping he can delay that until the end of the season.

"We've had a positive report from the specialist and Craig may be out for only another three or four weeks," Millward reports.

Aussie back rower Cruickshank, who broke his jaw in only his second game, has also pencilled in a mid-March return, while winger Paul Wingfield is only two weeks away from a return to full training after a double hernia operation.

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