Ebbsfleet striker Rakish Bingham could feature on return from long-term injury in FA Trophy Third Round tie against Bishop’s Stortford

Ebbsfleet striker Rakish Bingham could make his return from injury this weekend.

The 30-year-old is set to feature for the first time since March when the Fleet host Bishop’s Stortford in the FA Trophy Third Round.

Bingham suffered an Achilles injury during Ebbsfleet’s televised National League South win at Slough last season.

His return to full fitness will be a welcome boost and has come earlier than expected.

Manager Dennis Kutrieb revealed: “That’s the aim for him but I don’t want to put pressure on him, we’ll see if he comes through this week fine. He’s definitely very close.

“I thought maybe he will be back beginning of January or maybe Boxing Day.

“I think if we would have needed him as we have, say, just 11 players left or whatever then we could have already thrown him in, but we want to give him that last little bit to make sure he doesn’t pick up any muscle injuries.”

Bingham has been working hard on his recovery and his progress has not surprised the manager, who is a big fan of the centre-forward.

He scored 16 goals last season and was part of a formidable frontline alongside top scorer Dominic Poleon.

“I’m very impressed,” said Kutrieb. “I was always impressed since I’ve known him. He has the right work ethic, he’s honest and would never cheat on himself.

“He [has been] exactly what I thought but you never know as anything could happen.

“You can see especially in the last couple of weeks in training, everyone is speaking to him as an experienced player. They’re waiting for him to come back and from this point of view it’s very important. I can’t wait to see him back on the pitch.”

With the Fleet still in the National League relegation zone, the temptation will be to turn to Bingham to solve their short-term