EXETER City defender Troy Archibald-Henville will miss the first two months of the season as he battles back from a knee injury.

The former Tottenham Hotspur man had an operation to repair cartilage damage in his knee over the summer.

He will now go back into hospital for further treatment after suffering a setback on his return to training last week.

It is a worrying development for Archibald-Henville, who initially picked up the injury whilst warming up before February's fixture against Southampton — just days after he permanently joined the Devon club for a fee in the region of £50,000.

But City boss Paul Tisdale says he is not concerned, insisting that Archibald-Henville simply needs a bit more time to recover before returning to full training.

"Troy has come back from his injury and (his knee) is a little bit puffy, which tends to be quite common when you come back from a knee operation," Tisdale explained. "I think he's got to go back in for a little bit more of an investigation into his knee and I think he will be another couple of months.

"It is not a problem other than he just needs to have it tidied up a bit. It is quite normal and happened to David Noble and players that have been in a similar situation, so he is not quite there yet. We won't see him for a few months yet."

While Archibald-Henville will take a while longer to recover from injury, striker Richard Logan, who was forced off after just 23 minutes of the Grecians' 3-1 win over Bristol City on Monday evening, should be fit to play against AFC Wimbledon on Saturday.

It was feared that Logan may have joined City's growing casualty list after limping off against the Robins.

But Tisdale insists that the popular forward was withdrawn only as a precautionary measure having suffered a minor problem with his groin before.

He said: "Richard just tweaked his groin. He is not badly injured. It is something he has had for a while, so it wasn't worth taking the risk.

"Hopefully he will be fit for Saturday."

Meanwhile, veteran frontman Jamie Cureton looks set to seal a deal with the Grecians having spent the summer on trial at St James's Park.

Cureton has all but agreed to join City for the coming campaign, but has yet to thrash out the terms of his contract.

Tisdale expects the ex-Norwich City player to be a part of his squad come August 7 and he will spend the next few days trying to negotiate a deal with the 34-year-old.

The City chief added: "We would like to have him here. He is with us and he has registered with us. It is not a trial anymore, we are just trying to organise some kind of contractual situation.

"I want him here and I believe he wants to stay here. I would like him to be signed with us, I just have to go through the process of making that happen.

"If all goes to plan, Jamie will be with us, but until that happens I can't guarantee it."