St Kilda coach Scott Watters expects forward Stephen Milne to be back playing in the AFL within a month.
Milne trained with teammates at Seaford on Friday morning ahead of Saturday’s match against struggling Melbourne.
The 33-year-old has been given indefinite leave from playing after he was charged this week with four counts of rape stemming from an alleged incident in 2004.
Watters says he backs the decision by the Saints’ board to give Milne leave, denying he was stood down.
“Stephen will return to playing,” Watters said.
“We’d be very hopeful that in three-to-four weeks he will be available to come back and do what he loves to do.”
Milne’s longtime teammates Nick Riewoldt and Nick Dal Santo will both celebrate their 250-game milestones in Saturday’s match against the Demons at the MCG.
Both players said they wanted Milne to play in their milestone game.
The Saints have only won two of their 11 matches to date this season and sit in 16th place on the ladder, one spot ahead of Melbourne (1-10).