And he could be back in contention for a first-team place by the end of the month.

The Sweden international has been out of action since injuring knee ligaments against Blackburn in May.

Following surgery, the 29-year-old has endured a strict rehab programme and assistant manager Eric Black says they can not wait to get Edman back on board.

Black said: "Erik managed 20 minutes training with the boys on Monday.
It'll be another month before he's back in the picture for the first-team, but he's happy to be with the other players again.

"He's such a professional individual, he's worked tirelessly.

"There's a lot of hard work and anyone who has been through rehab for a major injury will tell you that. There's a lot of lonely hours in the gym and training on the weekends on your own when all the other players are away.

"It takes a lot of self-motivation and he's done fantastically."

When Edman returns he is likely to contest the left-back spot with Maynor Figueroa. Ryan Taylor is also inching his way back towards Steve Bruce's plans after a summer disrupted by injury.

"Ryan is doing tremendously," said Black. "It'll be a big boost having both those players in contention.

"We have a got a pretty thin squad, I think we're down to 17 fit out-field players, so the more options we have the better."