Carlos Corberan provides update on Huddersfield Town striker Jordan Rhodes

Rhodes, who joined the club for a second spell in the summer after leaving Sheffield Wednesday, featured three times at the start of the season, starting Town’s first league game of the campaign at Derby.

He has been sidelined since mid-August and Corberan is hopeful he will return to the fray in time for the club’s hectic festive programme.

On that prospect, Corberan, whose side welcome Middlesbrough on Saturday, said: “I think so.

“After the pain he has had, he has recovered from the pain. It has been an intense recovery.

“I am watching him now and he is better (in condition) than when he joined the club.

“Then he had some restrictions on mobility and could not show his possibilities for the team.

“He has now trained two or three times in group game situations and I am watching him better than when he arrived at club.

“He is a striker who can offer something different, a very good striker in the box and special intuition to play in the box.

“The idea before we consider him to be in the first team is to have minutes in the B team as after a long period without playing football and working with medical staff, we understand that the option to play minutes in the B team first will help him be fit, ready and help the team.

“We will dedicate next week to the B team (with him) and his first minutes. We will see how he is. I don’t think it will be a long time to recover his level.”

Meanwhile, Corberan reports no fresh injury problems from the midweek loss at QPR and Duane Holmes could be back in the fray for the Boro game if he comes through unscathed in training on Friday.

Pipa, Alex Vallejo and Jonathan Hogg are all sidelined.