Three months on from Holman having a Grade 3C hamstring tear in pre-season against Bristol City, the young forward has been back on the grass for the last three weeks, slowly ramping up the intensity of training that he is involved in.

After suffering the injury, Holman was not included on Swindon's official squad list with the EFL as he was not expected to be back in action before January, but he is presently ahead of schedule in his recovery, having been running again in October.

The 22-year-old said that his own target was "to be back by mid-December", which would not presently be possible with him not on the squad list and being too old to be an under-21 player, as they do not have to be included.

As Swindon have only registered 21 of the 22 players permitted on a squad list, they could request to add him with the EFL, although this is not something that Holloway has considered just yet.

The Town boss said that he still expects Holman to be available to him in January, even if he is making strong progress on a return.

He said: "It is great news for him [to be back on the grass]. His injury is strong as hell. He's done really, really well, and he's totally on schedule to be back by January."

Holloway has previously hinted at certain players not fulfilling the whole off-season fitness programme that was assigned to the squad at the end of last season, which is believed to have caused some of the injury problems that Town have dealt with.

Holman appears to have been one of those players, partially explaining why his hamstring tore during a relatively routine sprint for the ball, and the former Blackpool manager is not keen on using him too early this time and possibly losing him again.

He said: "I am not risking someone who came back as unfit as he was. He knows what his issue was.

"You don't do five days of training; you do five weeks of training. Five days a week is what you should do. His leg still shouldn't have torn like that, but he is quick.

"He's worked his socks off. He's been in the gym, and he's trying to understand where he can get."