(Reuters) - Huddersfield Town striker Elias Kachunga is back training with the first team squad after recovering from a knee injury and is confident he can help the promoted side retain their Premier League status.
The 25-year-old made 17 league appearances for the club before injuring his medial collateral ligament in a 4-1 victory over Watford in December. The Democratic Republic of Congo international scored his only league goal in that game.
Huddersfield have struggled for consistency since that victory, winning just two of 12 games, and sit 15th in the table on 31 points, four points above the relegation zone.
They face Crystal Palace on Saturday.
"We need the three points to make a big step in the right direction," Kachunga told the club's website (www.htafc.com). "I hope I have a good week and then hopefully on the weekend I might be on the grass."
He said it had been tough training away from the first team while he was recovering.
"I think everyone who plays football knows how hard it is when you can only stay in the gym, train on your own and only go on the grass with the fitness coach to do your runs, doing all the stuff you have to do," Kachunga added.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
