Captain Sam Corne could be involved in Maidstone’s FA Cup tie at Herne Bay as manager George Elokobi brings positive news on the injury front.

Corne has missed the last five games after taking a whack on his ankle during the Stones’ 1-0 defeat by Weston at the end of August.

But he’s back in training and while Elokobi felt last weekend’s league game against Chesham was too soon, he’s on track to feature at Winch’s Field in the FA Cup third qualifying round on Saturday.

“I’m not one to cry about injuries but any manager would love to have his full-strength squad, especially when you’ve got key players out like your club captain,” Elokobi told KentOnline.

“He took a heavy knock on his ankle, which did a bit of damage.

“The soldier that he is, he carried on playing and finished the game but the next day we knew he was in trouble because his ankle was swollen in a bad way and we needed to send him for a scan.

“It’s been good to see him back training. He trained the whole of last week but I made a conscious decision not to play him against Chesham.

“I had a chat with him and said, ‘No, I want you to train another week and then, touch wood, there’s no reaction and you’ll be available this weekend’.”

Vice-captain Jordan Higgs is back in action after suffering an ankle injury in Maidstone’s opening-day win at St Albans.

He appeared as a second-half substitute in the 2-2 draw with Chesham and there’s more good news with Harry Kyprianou and Raphe Brown also closing in on returns.

Utility man Kyprianou has been sidelined with a pre-season foot injury that left him struggling to walk, while defender Brown appears to be getting over a combined side and back injury.

Both players are training.

Elokobi said: “When you have a squad and you are missing these players, it doesn’t help because we want to have selection headaches.

“Their time will come but it’s good to see them in good health, that’s the most important thing.

“The welfare of these players is important.

“As a footballer, you want to be confident in your mind that you are pain-free and the injury you had is not a worry in your mind and then we can see the best of all these players we’ve got coming back.

“They’ve been frustrated and you’ve got to stay positive with them as a management team and try to encourage them and keep their heads up.

“They want to be out there helping Maidstone United Football Club and we see their frustration.

“As a management team, we have discussions with them and I tell them to smile a little bit more because all will be well.

“There’s still plenty of games left this season and once they’re fit, we can crack on and make sure we select the right team.

“Credit to Paul Smith (physio) who’s been working ever so hard to get these players back.

“Last week, for the first time, he had no one in the physio room. He didn’t know what to do with himself!”