Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce has sent Matt Ritchie on a mini pre-season as he looks to welcome him back later this month.
The Scotland international went under the knife to clear up the bone around his ankle after the ill-fated challenge with Hamza Choudhury.
After a successful operation he has now headed to the Middle East for a training camp and Bruce will assess his fitness to see if he will feature against Wolves or the November trip to West Ham's London Stadium.
Either way, Bruce is delighted with his progress and told the Chronicle: "Matt is OK. He is progressing along nicely.
"He is doing warm weather training at the moment in the Middle East.
"All the reports I am getting back are good.
"He's working hard and hopefully he will be back at the weekend he will be OK."
The Toon boss is hoping the warm weather will aid Ritchie in a full recovery.
Bruce had previously sent striker Dwight Gayle out to Portugal for a similar training camp, but added: "He (Matt Ritchie) is out in the Middle East.
"Portugal is not hot enough now.
"To be fair if you have got something wrong with you, in medical terms, running in the rain in Newcastle is horrible compared to the Middle East.
"That's where he is at the minute."
