[kennethlindheim]

Kieron Dyer is aiming to make his latest comeback from persistent hamstring problems in September after a summer of meticulous rehabilitation.

Dyer was forced to watch England's ultimately doomed World Cup campaign as a spectator after a disastrous season of injuries with the Magpies.

The midfielder managed just 11 appearances - of which only three were starts - as the joy at signing a new four-year contract at St James's Park last summer gradually gave way to despair.

In the four years since England's previous World Cup bid in Japan and South Korea, Dyer has made just 98 Premiership appearances as a series of niggling physical problems have eaten away at his career. In the last two campaigns, he has appeared in only 36 United matches, with just under half of his outings coming from the substitutes' bench.

But, while there were some suggestions that the England international's career was in jeopardy following his third hamstring breakdown of last season, the 27-year-old is nearing the end of a successful four-month rehabilitation programme.


Should his specialist in London and Newcastle's medical staff then feel the build-up work is complete - and the early indications are good - Dyer will be given the all-clear to join up with the rest of the squad and resume full training.


While Roeder will be delighted to have Dyer back among his first team players, United's manager has told the injury-plagued star that, unlike previous regimes, he will not rush him into a return or do anything that might undo the hours of hard work he has done this summer.


Nevertheless, while Roeder will resist the temptation to throw Dyer back into the fray, the former Newcastle centre-half also knows that he desperately needs the attacking midfielder to be firing on all cylinders sooner rather than later.