Stuart Broad is relieved to be on the verge of a comeback from the shoulder injury which he initially feared might derail his SA tour.

Little more than two months after his man-of-the-match performance helped England win back the Ashes at The Oval, Broad injured himself fielding at Bloemfontein - and the early reactions of the medical experts were far from encouraging.

Reflecting on the apparent probability at the time that he had hurt himself more seriously, Broad said: "It would have been heart-breaking.

"I had a day of feeling a bit down in the dumps when I wasn't quite sure what was happening."

Thankfully for England's fast bowler, at the start of a high-profile one-day international and Test tour of South Africa, the worries did not last long.

It soon became clear there was no lasting damage - and although he has since had an injection to aid his recovery, he reports the injury is behind him.

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"In those first couple of days, there were potential problems. Different surgeons had seen different things," Broad recalled.

"It was a bit of a worry - because there were all sorts of diagnoses from different specialists in England and South Africa.

"But when I realised when the scans came through that there was no structural damage I didn't think it was a major problem.

"We came to the decision we were just going to ride it out, and give it some rest - and that's worked wonders for it.

"I've had two-and-a-half weeks and feel 100 per cent fit now, ready to go and just excited to add a bit to this tour."

Broad is hoping to return in Friday's day-night match at Newlands, with England leading 1-0 and needing just one more victory - curiously, it would be their seventh on the trot against South Africa - to ensure they cannot lose the series.

Broad fully expects to be targeted by South Africa - batsman JP Duminy confirmed as much too - but is confident he will be able to deal with that better than he did last time against the same opponents.

"It's something that happens to any young bowler in a side - any opposition will target them," he reasoned.

"In the Test series in 2008, I think South Africa particularly targeted me as a bowler, and I probably wasn't up to the standard expected and didn't get the wickets I wanted.

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"But I see that as a 'positive'. They're coming harder at you, and it gives you a better chance of finding the edge or taking wickets.

"You might have to accept you go for a few more runs. But if you're bowling them out, you're happy."

In any case, 23-year-old Broad believes he has developed important new skills in the interim.

"I have changed a lot in the 14 months since I played them," he reported.

"I think the stats back me up when I say my Test match form in 2009 is a lot better than my career form.

"I think I've become a lot more consistent, more of a mental change in realising as a bowler where you want to be."

He warns too that there will be no holding back when he does return to the fray.

"If I get picked in the side I'll be going hell for leather to make sure we go 2-0 up in this series," he promised.

"They're the world's best team. It's great for us that we've beaten them six times on the bounce now - we can take huge confidence from that.

"We're very aware they're going to come very hard at us on Friday. That's the way South Africans will play, (Graeme) Smith leading from the front in his aggressive manner."