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Reading FC forward Dominic Samuel is back on the road to recovery from an injury that looked like it would rule him out for the entire season when he collapsed in the Capital One Cup First Round tie against Colchester.
Fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case, with the 20-year-old Englishman tweeting an update this afternoon.
Op went well , Glad my ACL is fine , luckily I just done meniscus , 6 to 8 weeks from now , God is good ❤️ Back playing soon ⚽️
— Doms (@DominicSamuel9) August 19, 2015
The Royals boss Steve Clarke told GetReading:
"It's difficult to say it's positive because it's still quite a serious injury, but it's certainly not as bad as we feared.
"At first we weren't too sure and then after the initial scan we were worried about the cruciate.
"But when they went inside and had a look everything seemed in order. He's nipped a couple of cartilages so the doctors trimmed them up.
"I think six to eight weeks might be a bit optimistic from Dominic's point of view. If he's back in that timescale great, but it might just take a little longer."
Given the scant number of goal-scorers Reading have in their squad—and with last season's first choice striker Pavel Pogrebnyak ruled out with an injury—many thought the start of this season could see Samuel given a chance to stake his claim to be first choice striker; an impressive loan spell at Coventry last season saw him score an impressive six goals and make one in 13 appearances which many hoped would transfer to the Championship in 2015/16, especially considering Samuel has something that we desperately lack at the prong of the attack: pace.
As Steve Clarke said, it's not positive news but it is better news than many thought it would be. With Samuel out for just two months, that still gives him plenty of time to stake his claim as many fans wish and if—God forbid—the Royals are still struggling for goals at that point, it could be that Samuel's return is even more important.
Can't wait to get myself going again #Hungry ⚽️
— Doms (@DominicSamuel9) August 20, 2015
In any case, everyone at The Tilehurst End wishes Dominic all the best in his recovery and hope to see him banging in the goals in the blue and white hoops sooner rather than later.