Everton midfielder Jean-Philippe Gbamin has avoided the need for surgery on his damaged quadriceps.
The £25m summer signing sustained the tendon injury in training last month and the Blues' initial prognosis puts Gbamin out for "at least" eight weeks.
At first, Everton were unable to rule out the need for Gbamin to go under the knife on the problem in his right leg but the ECHO understands that after the club sought expert advice from consultants on the continent, it was decided that the 23-year-old would not need an operation.
Gbamin is said to be recovering well at Finch Farm but the Blues are still not able to put a more specific timescale on his return.
There had been early fears that the Ivory Coast international could be out for three months but Everton have yet to talk about return dates beyond an initial club statement which said he would be sidelined for eight weeks, as a minimum.
Gbamin came off the bench to make his debut at Crystal Palace on the opening day of the season before playing the full 90 minutes against Watford the following weekend.
However, the former Mainz man injured his quadriceps during a training session, ahead of the trip to Aston Villa, when taking a shot.
