HIGH-FLYING Adelaide forward Brett Burton will ramp up his comeback from a knee injury when he re-joins his teammates for training in the next few weeks.

Burton, 30, underwent a full reconstruction after his knee buckled underneath him in the round-15 loss to Collingwood at the MCG last season.

Always a meticulous athlete, ‘The Birdman’ appeared as fit as ever as he completed agility drills alongside fellow injured Crow Rory Sloane at training during the week, fuelling speculation his rehabilitation is ahead of schedule.

Burton has been running, unaided by a brace or strapping, for months now but physical performance manager Stephen Schwerdt said the club would resist rushing the star veteran back.

“Our approach has always been to have Brett back in 12 months because that’s the standard time frame,” Schwerdt said.

“He’s going really well and will start to join in some football stuff with the group now. There’s a possibility he might come back a bit early, but we’re still aiming for 12 months.”

The full year of rehabilitation would see Burton available for Adelaide’s clash with Fremantle at AAMI Stadium on July 11.

A two-time leading goal kicker at the club, he will gradually increase the amount of football work he does with the main group until deemed fit to begin full-scale competitive training.

Burton, who is out of contract at season’s end, will be keen to impress in his comeback and Schwerdt backed the freakish forward to make a form return.

“You see Brett training once or twice a week out on the deck, but there is a hell of a lot of training that’s been going on behind closed doors,” he said.

“The thing about Brett is that his attention to detail is like no other athlete you’ve ever seen. If anyone is going to get back and perform well it will be him because he’ll leave no stone unturned.”

Another Crow on the comeback trail is unlucky forward Trent Hentschel.

Hentschel, 26, played the opening two games of the season in his return from a two-year lay-out, before undergoing more surgery to remove debris from his troublesome knee.

The talented forward will start running on Saturday and is expected to be available for the round seven clash with the Western Bulldogs.