Workington Reds captain Gari Rowntree is due to make his long-awaited comeback in Tuesday’s County Cup game against Aspatria.

The left back has been absent at the start of this season while he continues to recover from the knee injury which saw him miss the back end of last term.

The 30-year-old last played for Reds in a 1-0 win over Matlock in April and has been sidelined since.

Rowntree has been taking part in light training in the last couple of weeks and has joined in with some pre-match warm-ups.

He is not expecting to play the full 90 minutes, but explained that he would aim to feature for 30 to 45 minutes and might appear as a substitute.

Rowntree said: “The specialist said that I could have come back earlier, but I’ve taken my time and hopefully I’ll be okay.

“Maybe I’ll just play for half an hour, but we’ll see how it goes.

“I’m very pleased to be nearing a comeback.

“Hopefully I’ll make some sort of difference and it’s been good to be around the lads as club captain and getting involved rather than sitting on the side.

“The young lads have done a good job. Robbie Hebson and Elliot Newby are both good players and are nice and sharp.

“Even the likes of Sam Smith have filled in at centre back from left back.”

Rowntree and fellow long-term absentee Anthony Wright will miss tomorrow’s home match with Stafford at Borough Park, ko 3pm.

Joe McGee will also miss out after dislocating his shoulder against Warrington last weekend.

The management trio should have James Earl back after he was an absentee from Tuesday’s game through illness.

The first team squad were due to train as normal last night.

Joint manager Dave Hewson has revealed that the club are still in talks with potential new signings, but it is unlikely that any deals will be tied up before the weekend.

Hewson also expects all 16 players who were named in the matchday squad against Ashton to be available.

Opponents Stafford are sitting in 18th position on 15 points, but have won their last two games.