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"When I first suffered the injury, most people were saying that I wouldn't play again until at least Christmas, but it now appears that I'll make my comeback quite a long time before then," Don said.
"It's still difficult to put an exact date on when I'll be ready to play first-team football, but it looks like it'll probably be some time during the Autumn. This is great news because I won't miss too much of the Premiership season hopefully and it also means I could be in contention for Scotland's Euro 2004 qualifiers if selected."
Don's return would be a welcome return for the Hammers, although he would likely be more of a squad player on his comeback, with Michael Carrick, Trevor Sinclair and Joe Cole settled in midfield, with Steve Lomas a the fourth man. It would appear to be a straight-forward battle between Don and Steve for the final midfield spot, together with Richard Garcia and any future summer signings. However, competition for places is in no way a bad thing, whilst cover for injuries is essential.
Regarding his visit, Don is clearly optimistic: "This is a big boost for me – a major step forward. I've also been given the OK to start running again too – albeit very gingerly at the moment – and that is also a nice hurdle to have got out of the way.
"Needless to say, I'm feeling much better about things now than I did last week and even though my comeback is still some way into the distance, I can at least now see some light at the end of the tunnel. Having a serious injury like this is mentally very difficult to deal with, so any positive news is extremely welcome.
"So, for the next few months it looks like I'm going to be clocking up hundreds of miles at our Chadwell Heath training ground – but for once in my life I don't mind one bit!"