MK Dons midfielder Ben Reeves returns to full training

The 27-year-old has managed just 20 minutes of football this season, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitution in the 1-0 win over Shrewsbury Town on August 10.

Having rejoined the Dons from Charlton Athletic in the summer, Reeves was injured the following week in training, and has not been seen since.

But Reeves has played a full part in training this week, and with options limited to boss Paul Tisdale due to the club's lengthy injury list, he could make the bench at the Memorial Stadium.

Baily Cargill and Jordan Moore-Taylor are other players who have returned to the fold in recent games, and Reeves is now close, but Tisdale believes the fact he has so many players 'half fit' is going to also bring problems.

“It will be great news to have them back because it gives me options on the bench,” said Tisdale.

“We have players coming back from injury who are not yet ready to play 90 minutes.

"You cannot play a whole host of those because you can only make three substitutions – that’s not taking into account that you might get an injury, a red card or something else that requires you to make a change.

“When picking a team, you need at least eight players who can play 95 minutes and you’d be on a tightrope if you could only pick eight because that takes up your three substitutes. Ideally, you want nine or 10 players who could play 95 minutes. We haven’t got many of them, at the moment.

“There is soon to be a real conundrum in terms of the bench because we will have a number of players who are not quite right to start a game, but are fit now to be a substitute.

"Ben Reeves will come into that category soon, just like Baily Cargill and Jordan Moore-Taylor, who are on their way back.”

Tisdale confirmed that striker Kieran Agard remains sidelined along while Joe Mason, Rhys Healey and Sam Nombe are also out of action.