It’s been just under a month since Freo’s Aaron Sandilands went down in a heavy marking contest against West Coast’s Nic Naitanui in the recent Western Derby.

The Fremantle ruckman suffered a collapsed lung and fractured ribs, and underwent surgery to repair the damage.

Sandilands told reporters at a media conference today that his recovery is progressing well.

“I’ve been indoors doing a fair bit of work, and will head out on the track in the next week or so,” he said.

“It’s a lot better now and we’re heading in the right direction. It’s starting to feel good again.

“We’re slowly building in with high repetition [training] at the moment, and we’ll progress from there.”

And he’s putting the resources at the club to full use.

“We’ve got an AlterG, which is a treadmill you can blow up and run on with less weight, so I’ve started jogging on that.”

A recent media report suggested that one of the star ruckman’s ribs had to be removed during surgery, but Sandilands quickly put an end to the speculation.

“It’s amazing how stories get spread around. I didn’t read it, but all I know is I had a couple of plates inserted.”

Sandilands is hopeful that he’ll be ready within the time frame set by the Fremantle medical staff.

“When I go back, I’ll be 100 per cent, and I think the rib should be pretty strong.”