Maidstone United manager George Elokobi delivers good news on injured players Sam Corne, Harry Kyprianou and Raphe Brown

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