Holman turned 22 on October 12 and got to celebrate by returning to the training pitch at Beversbrook after over two months out with a Grade 3C hamstring tear.

Having hit the ground running after joining in January, the former Wolverhampton Wanderers striker looked set to take a big role in Ian Holloway’s plan for this season, only to pull up after a sprint early in a pre-season friendly against Bristol City.

The damage was severe, with him expected to be out for four to five months, and he was duly left out of Town’s official squad submitted to the EFL.

But hard work on his recovery has seen Holman make very strong progress to be back on the grass and playing some part in training, even if he is not ready to be in full contact sessions just yet.

Holloway warned fans not to expect to see the striker too quickly, even if he was involved in training, as there was still a way for him to go.

The striker said that he had set himself a target to be back playing during December after a positive recovery from a difficult injury.

He said: “I wouldn't say that I am ahead of schedule; I'd just say that I am on time. We're just covering every base and making sure that we're not missing anything and making sure that I'm back to full fitness.

“I'm sort of hoping to be back by mid-December, maybe a bit before that, but I'm just not rushing anything.

“I'm going to get back to where I was before and get back to flying and see what I can do when I'm back.”

Whilst he has missed a lot of time out on the pitch, Holman revealed that Holloway had been keeping him involved in meetings so that he had an understanding of what the team was doing.

He said: “He has been brilliant. He's just spoken to me before coming here, and he has been trying to keep me in the loop with everything.

“That means that when I am back, he knows what I can bring to the table and I can be ready to slot in whenever.

“Selfishly, I know that I can add to this team, but I also know that the team the gaffer puts out is full of quality.”