Stephen Henderson will return to fitness sooner than expected, according to Bob Peeters.

The Charlton manager had previously revealed his first-choice goalkeeper may be out until the season’s end because of a shoulder injury.

The permanent signings of Neil Etheridge and Marko Dmitrovic also suggested that may be the case, but Peeters revealed Henderson is making swift progress.

“It is positive,” he said. “They went into his shoulder and found a little flap went loose so they stitched it.

“Hopefully in a few weeks he can go back into training and see if the shoulder will hold.

“But today we hear he is not too bad and he could be back much earlier than we thought.

“Obviously with a goalkeeper and a shoulder injury it is difficult but it is much more positive and hopefully he can come back to full fitness as soon as possible.”

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