Injured striker Darren McQueen could return for Ebbsfleet this season - but the club won't rush him back.

McQueen, the Fleet's top scorer in 2016/17, is recovering from knee surgery and hasn't played since September.

But the 22-year-old, who's at St George's Park this week as part of his rehabilitation, hasn't given up hope of playing some part in the National League run-in.

McQueen said: "I want to play before the season ends but if it's not right, I'm not going to rush it. It's better for me to let everything fully heal than me rush back and it happens again.

"The gaffer's been desperate to get me back because he knows what quality I can bring.

"When we were struggling for goals, I was thinking 'imagine if I was playing, I could have got onto that'.

"But I know I'm not going to be where I left off. It's going to take a while for me to get back to my full fitness and me being at my peak but I think I've got enough quality to help the team."

Daryl McMahon would be equally thrilled to have McQueen back this season but with Fleet not in danger of going down, insists his player's welfare comes first.

The manager said: "We're not going to put Darren under any pressure to play this season. If he does, it's a bonus for us but the most important thing is that we get him right going into the summer for next season.

"We are desperate to get him back because he's such a good player but we don't desperately need him on the pitch quickly. If we were in a different scenario, at the lower end of the table, needing goals, we know he can get goals to win you games so it's a different story totally but we need to make sure he gets the best recovery he can to help the longevity of his career. That's paramount to us and to him.

"We've missed him because he's a top goalscorer. His pace is electric, he frightens defenders and he's a massive player for us - but we've got to make sure he's right.

"He knows it himself, that you can't rush these things. You've got to go through all the procedures to make sure you're back playing.

"We've had numerous knee injuries - Aaron McLean, Dave Winfield, Jack Payne and they've all come back out of it. We've got to make sure Darren's the same."

Read more from Darren McQueen in the Gravesend Messenger on Thursday.