Despite lasting 74 minutes of Boro’s 5-3 Herts Senior Cup defeat against Boreham Wood last Tuesday and appearing as a substitute in two of Boro’s last four League 2 fixtures, his manager feels Calvin Zola’s full return to action is not imminent.

The former Tranmere Rovers and Oldham Athletic striker was injured in the reverse fixture of this weekend’s clash on September 6 and has not started a game since.

Boro are currently the highest home scorers in League 2 but Zola’s goalscoring contributions are still being missed.

He said: “He is miles off as you have seen when he plays and the only way we are going to get him there is to cope with that, tolerate it and keep pushing him to produce more.

“He’s not done any training of real note other than three or four weeks now since coming back from his various injuries. It’s tough.

“Any player that has been out for a long period of time will tell you it’s tough to get back into your stride.

“Sometimes you look as if you’ve never played the game before. You sometimes feel like you’re never going to be able to play the game again.

“It’s a horrible experience to be a player whos been out with a long term injury and you have to, as a manager, appreciate the difficulties that player is facing and make sure everyone is understanding.

“I am sure before the end of the year Calvin will be ready to make a contribution.”