Scunthorpe United stopper Josh Lillis remains on course for a Christmas comeback, despite ‘a bit of a setback’.

The Iron keeper is back in light training after suffering knee ligament damage at the start of October.

However, manager Alan Knill admits he feared the worst when Lillis was carried off the training ground.

“He had a bit of a setback last week,” said the Iron boss.

“He just overstretched. He actually wasn’t in goal, he was playing behind the goals in a session, he just overstretched for one and just caught himself.

“We went, ‘ugh’, had to pick him up and more or less carry him off the training ground.

“But he’s okay, it wasn’t as serious as we all thought.

“Alex Dalton, the physio, has told him it’s something he has to expect. It might happen, that any time he feels a twinge in it, it’s not the end of the world.

“He’s okay, still mentally he’s a little bit wary of it. It’s not 100 per cent, but I suppose that’s only to be expected.

“When it happened we all went, ‘oh no, he’s out again’. But he trained on Tuesday.

“He’s not training as much as the other keepers but he’s doing enough.

“We’re hopeful that it will be around Christmas, or just after, that he’s fully fit.

“At the moment, it’s just wait and see.”

In the meantime, United are set to extend the loan of Sam Johnstone.

The Manchester United goalkeeper’s current deal is due to expire after Saturday’s clash with Carlisle, but Knill wants to see it extended into a fourth month.

Johnstone was brought back into the starting line-up two weeks ago at Notts County, having been kept out of the team by first a dislocated finger and the form of Sam Slocombe.

Knill revealed it was a difficult decision to ring the changes at Meadow Lane.

“Anybody who’s seen Sam Johnstone can see he’s a top keeper,” he said.

“Sam Slocombe has done really well and proved to us that he’s more than capable of stepping up if needed.

“We just felt that at the moment, when it wasn’t the greatest time, it might be a good idea to take Sam Slocombe out the firing line and put Sam Johnstone in.

“He’s kind of calm and doesn’t get flustered at anything.

“We made that decision, but it was difficult because Sam hadn’t really done anything wrong.

“We just noticed a few things in his game.

“It’s his first season.

“When we sat down and spoke to him, to be fair to the kid, he’s completely honest about his game.

“And we were completely honest with him.

“What he has done is prove to everybody that he’s capable of being a first-team goalkeeper.”