MALVERN Town skipper Reece King is likely to return to action for the first time in more than two months in a mid-season friendly tonight (Wednesday).
King has been on the sidelines since November 1 when he broke a bone in his leg during the Hillsiders’ 4-2 win over Dudley Sports in the Worcestershire Senior Urn quarter-final.
However, King is set to get some minutes under his belt when Malvern take on local rivals Ledbury Town at the HDAnywhere Community Stadium (7.30pm).
The home friendly has been arranged to help get Malvern players back in the groove ahead of Saturday’s visit to Dudley Town having not played a single match since before Christmas.
Malvern Town boss Les Jones told the Observer it will be great to see King back in a Malvern shirt.
“Getting some minutes for Reece will be a great boost for us, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
“I don’t know how many minutes he will get but hopefully it will be a boost to his confidence and we’ll take things from there.
“We always miss good players when they are not available and Reece is a quality player.
“We’ve not played a match since before Christmas so it is great to get this friendly set up so we can get back up and running.”
Jones said the likes of Aaron Richards, Phil Harris and Matthew Turner will be fit again to face the Black Country side on Saturday as his side look to return to winning ways in the West Midlands Regional League Premier Division.
The Hillsiders go into the game in third place but have lost three of their last four league games including their pre-Christmas 4-0 drubbing against leaders Haughmond.
Jones added: “It is vital we start the new year by getting some wins under our belt once again.
“We showed last season that we can put a strong run together and will need to do the same again if we are going to close the gap at the top.”