Fulham midfielder Mahamadou Diarra will take part in his first training session for two and a half months at Motspur Park as he steps up his recovery from a knee injury.

The Mali midfielder had been nursing an injury ever since returning to international football with his country in September and last featured for Fulham during their 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham on December. Diarra missed Mali’s participation in the African Cup of Nations even though his national side insisted on including him in their preliminary squad for the tournament before accepting medical reports from Fulham that showed the 31 year-old would be unable to take part.

Injuries have restricted Diarra, who isn’t expected to return to match sharpness for around another month, to just eight appearances for Martin Jol’s side this season as he has struggled to build on his promising start to his Fulham career having signed on a short-term deal last February after being released by Monaco. Fulham have had to rely on former free agent Giorgos Karagounis to fill the void left by Diarra’s absence and Jol has added to his midfield options by bringing in Emmanuel Frimpong and Urby Emmanuelson on loan during the January transfer window.