Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek is targeting a return to action early next year.
The 23-year-old is yet to feature under new head coach Frank Lampard this season and that's down to sustaining an Achilles injury during an end of season friendly prior to the Europa League final against Arsenal back in May.
But a return appears to be very close.
Loftus-Cheek has given several interviews regarding his recovery and recently sat down with Copa90 and the launch of the new Adidas store in London to speak about where he's at right now.
"It's alright, it's been a long journey," he said. "Since I done it I'm just grinding it out and I've had a few setbacks which is normal when you've had a big injury.
"I'm close now anyway.
"It's weird because it's blurry (on picking up the injury) I went down and I knew I did something because I heard it and it was very, very painful and then the doctor came on, did some tests on my foot and I couldn't move it."
Then came the big question about when fans could see him in action and Loftus-Cheek's response was rather encouraging.
"If everything goes well, I'd say just over a month," he added.
Following the release of this interview, Loftus-Cheek took to social media to give Chelsea fans a promising update.
The midfielder posted four different clips on his Instagram stories of him running outside at the club's training base in Cobham.
He also did some work with the ball and didn't seem to be affected by the Achilles problem.
In regards to Loftus-Cheek hoping to be back available for selection in just over a month, a possible time-frame for his long-awaited return could be FA Cup fourth round weekend.
The Blues face Nottingham Forest in the third round next month and will be hot favourites to beat the Championship side in a repeat of the game at the same stage last season.
January 25 is the weekend slated for FA Cup fourth round action and if all things go well, it could be when Loftus-Cheek makes his first appearance of the season.
