GETTING through 10 kilometres of running is no big deal for most players but for star Brisbane Lions recruit Allen Christensen it means the world.



The former Geelong premiership player has had a slow start to his first pre-season in Lions colours following a second bout of surgery on his troublesome back in September.



But since the Christmas break the 23-year-old has not missed a beat, putting together a complete month of running, culminating in a 10km session at Coorparoo on Monday morning.



He ran aerobically and threw in a stack of 150m repeat efforts with young fullback Justin Clarke, who is also recovering from injury.



The Lions have high hopes for Christensen, one of their prized off-season recruits alongside Dayne Beams and Mitch Robinson.



He is expected to join the main training group for some light drills in the next fortnight and resume full training in a month.



Coach Justin Leppitsch hopes the small forward will be available for round one against Collingwood.



"I would have thought he'll play the last (NAB Challenge) game two weeks before round one," Leppitsch said.



"That's something that's probably too early to call 100 per cent, but I'd like to play him.



"He's on schedule, he's on target and a really good possibility for round one."



Christensen said although it had been frustrating watching his teammates begin match-simulated drills at training, he was focused on getting the injury right the first time.



He had surgery last February, and then after eight games with the Cats in 2014, the second surgery forced him to miss both of their finals matches.



"I've been through it before. I don't want to get to where I was after my last surgery, where I was battling through," Christensen said.



"It is frustrating to watch, but I know my time is coming, I'm only a month away.



"I'm really confident in the direction I'm heading, be that round one or a bit later, we'll have to wait and see. It's hard to put a date on, but I'll be coming hard for round one."



Leppitsch said Christensen would perfectly complement his young group once fully fit.



"He's got class, skill, maturity, leadership, experience, all the things our group lacks in big numbers," he said.



"We don't have a lot of mature players that have played 70 or 80 games that have had big experience.



"He'll bring a cool head in pressure times. Watching him play, I think that's when he plays his best, the more pressure that's within the game, which is exciting."