Tottenham: James Maddison in partial training ahead of Reading friendly, Thomas Frank confirms

Thomas Frank confirmed that James Maddison is part-training with the Tottenham squad as he steps up his recovery from injury.

The midfielder missed the final weeks of last season, including the Europa League final, with a serious knee injury.

Maddison did not require surgery but the problem has kept him out of the start of pre-season. Tottenham face Reading on Saturday afternoon and Luton next weekend before travelling to Hong Kong and then South Korea.

Frank did not confirm when he expects Maddison to be available, but suggested he was further ahead in his recovery than Dejan Kulusevski and Radu Dragusin.

Kulusevski suffered an injury to his right patella and underwent surgery in May, while Dragusin has been out with an ACL injury since February.

"Maddison is the closest one," Frank said. "He is part training with the team, so that's very positive. Obviously a key player.

"Dragusin and Kulusevski are a little bit further behind."

Maddison will not play any part against Reading on Saturday but Frank confirmed that Heung-min Son and Cristian Romero will be involved. Spurs are set to name two different XIs to play 45 minutes each, with Son and Romero the two captains.

There is speculation over the futures of both players, who have been linked with summer moves, but Frank confirmed that the pair have "set the standards" in the early stages of pre-season.

Son was the club captain last season, with Romero, Maddison and Guglielmo Vicario the three vice-captains.

However, with uncertainty over whether half of that leadership will still be at the club come the end of the transfer window, Frank has not yet determined who will have the armband this season.

"Good question, I haven't decided anything on that," the Spurs boss said.

"I think I have a long list of bullet points I need to get through. I take them in the right order.

"[Son] was the captain last year and when we play at 2:45pm tomorrow, Son and Romero will be the two captains for each team. But I haven't made a final decision.

"On whether that would be a call he makes or leaves to his squad, Frank added: "That will be my decision."