Dale Gorman and Matt Harrold are inching closer to full fitness, with the duo set to feature for Leyton Orient’s reserves in the coming weeks as they step up their injury recoveries.

New signing Gorman played 45 minutes for Orient against Greenwich Borough last week, having missed most of pre-season after fracturing his ankle against Coventry City for Stevenage in April.

Experienced striker Harrold, who joined Orient from Crawley Town last summer, hasn’t featured for the O’s since March, after he limped off against Woking due to a hamstring injury in the opening stages of the game.

Given the severity of their injuries, assistant coach Ross Embleton was keen to stress that Orient would adopt a cautious approach with the duo so that they don’t rush them back to full-fitness.

However, Embleton confirmed that the duo are making progress and they will step up their recoveries by featuring for the club’s reserves over the coming weeks to boost their fitness levels.

Speaking after yesterday’s draw with Ebbsfleet, Embleton said: “I think for Dale and for Matt, what we need to make sure they do is get some games to get to this level. If you threw them into this tonight it would be way beyond them and they’d tell you that themselves.

“I took them for a session today (Tuesday) and Dale and Matt are both getting to that next level now where they can work at a higher intensity and start to look at training at a match pace.

“The next bit is going to be about them getting some reserve games which are coming up to get them prepared to be in the team.”