AFTER 355 days out of action, Tino Livramento is set to make his competitive return to the pitch tonight (Friday) for the Saints B team as they host Stoke City at Staplewood.

The 20-year-old full-back saw his thrilling maiden season of professional football end in heartbreak at the Amex Stadium last April when he was stretchered off in the first half of Saints' 2-2 draw with Brighton.

And further tests revealed the worst-case scenario of a serious ACL injury. Initially hopeful of a return early in 2023, Livarmento suffered a setback in January that required a further minor surgery.

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But now, after training with the first team in recent weeks, manager Ruben Selles confirmed that Livarmento will take a major step in his recovery as he prepares to return to the pitch with the Saints B team tonight.

"Tino Livramento is playing today for the B team as part of his rehab and hopefully, all going well, he will then be with us."

Saints have been extremely careful not to rush Livarmento back with all three managers making it clear that the club will take the players' long-term future into consideration before making any decisions on his availability.

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Speaking in February, Selles confirmed that Livarmento's status for this current season was up in the air with no return date set.

"He had a small surgery after Christmas because of that setback so I don’t expect him to join us soon," the Spaniard said. "I don’t know exactly the time or if he will make it by the end of the season so unfortunately for Tino and the club he is not selectable."

Now though, almost exactly a year after the initial injury, Livarmento is finally closing in on a long-awaited comeback.

Saints have struggled with fitness and consistency at full-back this season with Kyle Walker-Peters and Romain Perraud both missing time while Ainsley Maitland-Nies has offered mixed performances since arriving from Arsenal on loan.