CHERRIES star Derek Holmes has admitted he was "greatly relieved" to discover he had avoided another long-term injury - just days after he had hit the comeback trail.

The 25-year-old targetman was concerned he may have sustained serious damage to his troublesome right knee after he aggravated the joint as he turned sharply in training on Monday.

And Holmes, who returned from a three-month lay-off just 23 days ago, was worried he could be facing another lengthy spell on the sidelines and was also contemplating the prospect of undergoing a second operation.

But the Scotsman's fears were allayed when he was told he had only sustained minor damage following a consultation with top knee specialist Adrian Harvey at the Nuffield Hospital on Wednesday.

And despite being a doubt for Cherries' trip to Division Two leaders Plymouth tomorrow, the Lanark-born striker is still refusing to rule himself out of the Home Park showdown (3pm kick-off).

Holmes told the Daily Echo last night: "I'm 90 per cent confident everything will be okay in a matter of days, but when I first hurt the knee on Monday, I thought I was looking at weeks or even months.

"But I saw the surgeon on Wednesday and he said he didn't seem to think there was anything major there so that was good news. I've got my fingers crossed that a bit of rest will sort everything out.

"It's been a tough three months for me. I felt I had done reasonably well in the two reserve games I had played and was feeling pretty good so what happened on Monday was a bit of a setback but it seems it's just a bit of bone bruising.

"I'm probably touch and go for the Plymouth game. If I don't get any reaction after doing some work on the treadmill, I might try some twisting and turning and some ball striking.

"Then it will be up to the manager so you never know. He might say to rest it completely over the weekend and start again on Monday so we will just have to wait and see how things go."

Holmes and Alan Connell (knee) are Cherries' two main doubts ahead of the trip to Devon after Steve Fletcher returned to training yesterday having sat out the Team Bath friendly with a sore knee.

Cherries boss Sean O'Driscoll said: "Derek had a reaction to his cartilage operation so we are just monitoring him. Nothing showed up on Alan's scans, but every time we push him on, it swells up so it's prudent to take it easy with him.

"I'm sure if it was a cup final they would both declare themselves fit, but at this moment in time, we'll have to wait and see.

"If everybody else is fit - which hopefully they will be - it would be prudent to pull those two out just to make sure we don't do any further damage if there is anything there."

O'Driscoll, whose side were beaten 2-0 by the Pilgrims at Dean Court on Boxing Day, added: "We were disappointed the Wrexham game was called off because we probably had one of our strongest squads of the season.

"But we've had a weekend off and a full week of training so we are going into the game with no excuses. Nobody can say we're tired or anything else so we are as fit as we can be for what is going to be one of our most difficult games of the season."

Cherries: (from) Moss, Broadhurst, Buxton, C Fletcher, Cummings, Cooke, Hayter, Browning, O'Connor, Feeney, S Fletcher, Elliott, Thomas, Jorgensen, Stock, Holmes, Tindall, Purches, Connell, Maher, Scriven.

Plymouth Argyle: (from) McCormick, Connolly, Coughlan, Aljofree, Gilbert, Norris, Friio, Wotton, Hodges, Phillips, Adams, Lowndes, Evans, Capaldi, Stonebridge, Keith, B Sturrock.