After spending the past four months on the sidelines with a persistent calf injury, Ash McGrath is expected to line-up for his first match of 2014 this Saturday.

McGrath initially hurt his calf on the eve of the NAB Challenge pre-season series, and struggled to overcome the complaint in the early stages of the season.

But for the past couple of weeks he’s trained with the main group, and now looks ready to resume a role up forward.

Physical Performance Manager, Brett Burton, of the Bupa Recovery Team, delivered the positive news on LIONS TV.

“Ash will be back available this week. Obviously he hasn’t played yet this season, so you’d imagine he’d come back through the Reserves,” Burton said as part of the Bupa Recovery Report.

Should he get through training, McGrath will likely line-up for the Lions Reserves in Saturday’s clash against Redland at Coorparoo.

The last time he played a competitive match was back in Round 23 of 2013 against Geelong at Simonds Stadium – when he kicked a game-high six goals and almost guided the Lions to an upset win.

Burton also revealed that Trent West would undergo a traditional knee reconstruction, which would keep the ruck recruit out for between 11-12 months.

“It’s really bad news for Westy,” Burton said.

“He saw the surgeon yesterday and will get operated on next week. With those ACL’s you want to get the swelling out of the joint before surgery.”