Reading could hand club captain Jem Karacan a first appearance in 15 months in Saturday’s FA Cup third-round tie against Town.

The Royals club captain is finally fit again after rupturing his right cruciate ligament against Leeds United in September 2013.

The London-born former Turkey youth team captain and Under 21 midfielder has had a number of setbacks during his rehabilitation.

But he has trained without problem since the start of the month and has his sights firmly set on a John Smith’s Stadium appearance.

Karacan said: “We’ll see how the week goes but fingers crossed I’ll be travelling and I’ll be in the squad.

“Every time I’ve watched the boys go out on that training pitch, I’ve just wanted to be out there with them.

“To have finally done that these last few weeks has been brilliant and now I just can’t wait to play again.

“I’m trying not to get too excited about Saturday because if I can’t be involved, I will just move on to the next game.

“But fingers crossed I can play, because I just want to come back and get that first game under my belt.”

Karacan, 25, joined Reading’s academy after departing Wimbledon when they relocated to Milton Keynes.

He has made 166 first-team appearances, scoring 11 goals, after having early loan spells at Bournemouth and Millwall.

Karacan has had one full Turkey call-up, but didn’t play in the World Cup qualifier against Hungary in Budapest in October 2012.

Manager Steve Clarke has three other players struggling with injuries.

Former QPR defender Anton Ferdinand (calf), midfielder Hope Akpan (shoulder) and Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak (knee) have all been out since November.