Chelsea midfielder Marco van Ginkel could return to action as early as March.
Van Ginkel, an £8.4m summer buy from Vitesse Arnhem, suffered cruciate knee ligament damage only 10 minutes into his full debut.
The Netherlands international, 20, landed awkwardly during the Capital One Cup win at Swindon in September.
But his recovery has gone smoothly and he is now being earmarked for an appearance for Chelsea’s Under-21 side.
Manager Jose Mourinho confirmed: “He’s doing so well and will play with the reserves at the end of March or April.”
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This post was last modified on 28/01/2014