ANDY GRAHAM insisted that the club will take their time in getting David Devine back to full health after he was injured against East Fife.

The defender started the opening game of the League Cup campaign and put in a solid performance before being forced off clutching his hamstring.

He has been absent since then, with Graham now explaining that he will not attempt to rush Devine back for fear of causing the issue to come back.

Speaking to Advertiser Sport, Graham said the vital thing was “getting it right” with his recovery, even if that meant an extended absence.

“It’s better than we thought,” Graham said. “It wasn’t a grade three which was the worry at the time.

“It’s a grade two which is generally a little bit quicker so we’re hoping that maybe next week he’ll get back into a bit of light running.

“We’re taking our time with this, we need to get it right and we’ve spoke to a lot of different specialists about trying to get it right.

“It’s important that we get it right for David because he’s a big asset for us and we need to get him right.”

Devine was unlucky last season, picking up a couple of injuries that saw him spend short periods on the sidelines.

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Graham was keen to avoid a stop-start approach this season, cautious not to rush him back too quickly in case Devine got injured again.

Devine clocked in a lot of minutes throughout pre-season and looked set to be a regular starting centre half for Alloa until his injury.

Graham continued: “He had a great pre-season and he got through everything and we built it up and it’s so frustrating that it happened in the first game on the last five minutes of the game.

“The important thing is we get it right with David and if that takes four weeks, it takes four weeks – if it takes six weeks, it takes six weeks.

“I’m really keen not to put a timeframe on it because the second you start doing that, he’ll start to think ‘I need to be ready in three weeks’ or I’m thinking ‘I need to get him back in three weeks’.

“It’s important to take our time with it, make sure we get it right and get the rehab programme done correctly which he’ll do.

“He’s a really good professional and a great boy that way but it’s important that we give him the timeframe he needs.

“There’s a long way to go, we’re game one in and we’re going to need David Devine for the season, not just for the first few games.”