Royals captain Graeme Murty is back in training with the squad after his long lay-off through injury.

The skipper picked up a calf injury in a July pre-season friendly at Havant & Waterlooville, and save for a brief return to reserve team action he has been out ever since.

But he has now returned to first team training, and is in the latter stages of his recovery.

Physio Jon Fearn said, "He's been back training since the weekend now, the injury has been slow to respond to treatment but now it's nearly back to its best.

"Missing pre-season was a massive loss for him so there is still some fitness to work on but you cannot knock how hard he has worked, it's a real tribute to him.

"His hard work is paying off now, and if everyone worked as hard as him we've have the fittest club in the world, never mind the league!

"In the last month we've not been working on the injury but his fitness and he's improved immensely."

Also injured at the moment are David Mooney, who is out for a few weeks with an ankle problem.

Simon Church has broken his hand and is ruled out for a month or so, while Sam Sodje is out for around three months following a knee problem.