WHEN Barry Ferguson strides across the white line on Saturday to make his long-awaited Rangers return, a posse of players will cast envious eyes in his direction.

The influential Rangers' skipper is guaranteed a rapturous reception at Ibrox when Inverness Caley Thistle come calling after having been sidelined for four months following ankle surgery.

The talismanic star took the penultimate step to recovery by coming through another reserve match unscathed yesterday.

Now Ibrox boss Walter Smith is ready to welcome Ferguson back into the first team fold for the SPL clash against Caley.

But, while Fergie steps back onto his home turf for the first time this season, three other players are counting down the weeks until they can follow the Scotland international down the Ibrox tunnel.

Chris Burke, Stevie Smith and Steven Naismith are all within touching distance of being available for first-team duty after sharing the agony of battling back from long-term injury.

Burke's last competitive game for Rangers came back in April when he was carried off during his side's victory over St Johnstone in last season's Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park.

In the same match, Naismith was taken to hospital after suffering knee ligament damage.

And Smith has suffered the most, with various injuries stopping his career on hold for the past couple of years.

But Burke says the trio are well on the road to recovery and says having each other has helped their recovery.

He said: "Personally, it has helped in a way that Steven Naismith and Stevie Smith have been out with me as we've had people to work with on our way back.

"As well as getting injured within a few minutes of each other in the same match, Naisy and I were operated on the same day.

"Because of that, we travelled to England and back together for that, and we've really been in this together all the way through.

"It is good to have someone next to you when you are recovering from a bad injury, especially when two of them are your best friends in the squad. You are able to do your exercises together, work in the gym as a group and maybe go outside to do some stuff too. It's far better than being on your own.

"Now we're looking to come back into the team at the same time and that's excellent for the three of us. Smithy is training with the boys again and has played for the reserves which is really good because we all know he's had a hard time.

"Likewise, Naisy is making great progress after he damaged his cruciate and he'll be looking to get involved again in the next few weeks.

"The two of them are happy with the way things are going and I'm the same, so now it's up to the three of us to step things up on the park."

This current lay-off isn't Burke's first experienced of finding himself on the sidelines for a lengthy period.

A virus ruled him out of most of the 2004/05 campaign under Alex McLeish's leadership and the little winger believes that has helped him cope with the frustration of being out for a sustained period once again.

"I was out for about eight months when I had my virus," explained Burke. "But, even then, it probably took me a good year to recover properly. I've been out for a lengthy period in the past so when I got injured in April, I knew what it was going to be like.

"That meant I didn't get as down as I might have, although on some days I felt low as well. There are definitely times when you find it hard to do all the exercises if you're the only one doing them."

Speaking to Rangers Media, Burke added: "Because you are doing the same stuff every day for the sake of building up your strength, it can get to you every now and then. At the same time, there have been days when I've come in raring to go as well and I've been happy that I'm on the right track again."