OUTSTANDING young forward prospect Jesse Hogan says he’s hopeful of playing in the next two to three weeks.

Although the 19-year-old said there still wasn’t an exact timeframe when he returns from a back injury, he was hopeful of returning via Casey sooner rather than later.

“I thought it was going to be two to three [weeks], but I’m looking at two or three weeks training and then come back to the VFL and then play later on towards [the end of the] first half of the season,” he told Dee TV.

Hogan said his injury – “without being a physio” – came from a crack in the right side of his back.

“I’ve had to compensate for it – there’s been a bit of swelling and bruising, so all of the muscles around it have started to contract. It was like a stress fracture, but not exactly a stress fracture,” he said.

“I did my first session yesterday (Monday) and I’ll run again tomorrow (Wednesday) and Friday and then progress from there.

“I’ve started to do weights and do more things around the club, so it’s coming along well.”

Hogan said his rehabilitation had been frustrating, but he was philosophical about his setback.

“It’s footy … it’s not as though other people haven’t gone through it – there’s people worse off than me, but it’s been a bit unfortunate. It is what it is and it’s part of the industry, so you’ve got to deal with it,” he said.

“You can’t really do a lot and I’ve been restricted on the bike and a lot of core activities. Other than that, you can’t really do a lot of weights, upper body or I can’t do any running until it settles down.

“It’s a bit frustrating, but I’m getting there now, so I’m sweet.”

Despite plenty of anticipation from the football public about his ensuing AFL debut, Hogan said he didn’t feel the weight of expectation.

“It’s not too bad this year. It’s mellowed out a lot compared to the start of last year,” he said.

“I think this year there was a lot of other things going on, so it’s been good, but I’ve tried to ignore it and I can only do what I can do – I can only do my best.

“As long as I’m trying my hardest that’s all I can do.”

Hogan said his aim for the rest of 2014 was “to get out on the park and play a few games”.

“That’s my first goal. I haven’t really looked too far from there. [I want] to play my first game and get my strength back and get my tank back, but I’m really just trying to get back out on the track at the moment and look to play my first game,” he said.

“I want to play some good games at Casey and earn my spot again, and then play at AFL level and try and hold my spot.”