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Muamba back on his feet

Fabrice Muamba posted a picture of himself on his Twitter page last week © Twitter

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Owen Coyle has revealed that Fabrice Muamba has been walking around in hospital as the Bolton midfielder continues his recovery from a cardiac arrest.

Muamba remains in intensive care at The London Chest Hospital following his collapse during Bolton's FA Cup quarter-final clash against Tottenham on March 17, but has continued to make remarkable progress and last week he posted a picture on his Twitter page thanking fans for their support.

While Coyle stressed that Muamba still had a long way to go, he said that the former England Under-21 international was "progressing in the right way".

"He has done some short periods of walking down the corridor he is in as part of the unit, staying in intensive care," Coyle said. "He is taking steps, talking and has that big smile which we love to see, so he is certainly progressing the right way.

"My chairman Phil Gartside was there [on Wednesday] with our club doctor Jonathan Tobin, and our club chaplain Phil Mason will be there today [Thursday] to continue the support from the football club.

"A couple of players have been sending him messages and we are keeping in touch. It has been great to see that smile and he continues to get better. We have to stress that he still has a long way to go, but the improvement has been remarkable and long may that continue."

As well as the absence of Muamba, Bolton's midfield has been depleted by long-term injuries to Stuart Holden and Lee Chung-Yong. While Holden is not expected to return before the start of next season, Coyle remained hopeful that Lee may be back in action within the next month.

"We are hoping that Stuart will be available for the first day of pre-season training, ready to make that impact that he already has again next year," Coyle said. "Lee Chung-yong continues to get better - he has done some light training on the grass on his own.

"My hope would be - and he needs continued improvement for this - that he can join in my training with the group in a couple of weeks' time. Then, if that is the case, we would need a couple of reserve games and I'd be hopeful that he might be able to be involved before the end of the season."

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