Tom Portas is set to make his long awaited return from injury at Seaham Red Star (kick off 7.45) on Tuesday night.

The midfielder suffered a bad knee injury early last season, and has had to overcome a couple of setbacks on the road to recovery.

But after undergoing intensive treatment and being guided carefully by specialists and physios, he has been given the green light to play for the reserves at Seaham.

Manager Martin Gray said; "Tom will probably start the game, fingers crossed that all goes well."

Just like last Saturday for the reserves, there could be some first team players involved in the game against the Northern League club, but regardless, joint reserve team manager Mark Fanning is looking for a big improvement on last Saturday's 3-2 defeat at Crook.

"We were very unhappy with the second half performance last Saturday," he said.

"Some players switched off in the second half, and that's unacceptable."