Fulham fullback John Paintsil stepped up his recovery from injury with a run-out for the reserves last night.
The Fulham full-back has been sidelined since December after damaging ligaments in his knee in the derby defeat to Chelsea.
But the Ghanaian international played an hour of the second-string's 1-1 draw with Wolves.
His progress will be a major boost to Whites boss Roy Hodgson, who has used Stephen Kelly, Chris Baird and Simon Davies at right-back in his absence.