Captain King has been badly missed by Tottenham this season

The 27-year-old has been plagued by injury in the past two years and has yet to feature this season following an operation on a knee injury this summer.

However, he continued his road to recovery by completing 45 minutes in a 1-0 reserves loss against Fulham.

"It was nice just to come through 45, my first in six months or so, and it feels good," he told the Spurs website.

"I am now just thinking about trying to get as many minutes under my belt as I can before trying to get back into the first-team squad."

606: DEBATE Even if King and Rocha are back, I'd still like to see a centre-back bought in January. Gaaa1983

Fellow centre-halves Ricardo Rocha and Dorian Dervite also featured in the match at Craven Cottage.

Portuguese defender Rocha has been restricted to just five appearances this season because of an ankle injury, while highly-rated French youngster Dervitte is making his way back from a serious knee injury.

The news will be a huge boost for Spurs manager Juande Ramos, who has inherited a side plagued by defensive problems.

The Londoners have conceded 28 goals in 15 league games this season, a record which has largely contributed to their lowly current position of 16th.

Ramos said recently of King: "Ledley King is very far away. It is difficult to say two weeks, three weeks, three months or four months.

"There hasn't been a setback. It's just a serious injury and it's a slow recovery."