Scott McTominay hopes to resume full Manchester United training by the end of this week.
The Scotland midfielder suffered a knee ligament injury on Boxing Day and was rated a major injury doubt for the Euro 2020 play-off against Israel in March.
But the 23-year-old's recovery has exceeded the Old Trafford medical team's expectations and he's now closing in on a return to the pitch.
McTominay is with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's squad for a warm weather training camp in Marbella and trained away from the main group on Sunday.
But he's hopeful of re-joining his team-mates in the coming days.
“Yeah it has been going well," McTominay told MUTV.
"Obviously, it is never nice watching football matches when you have been playing, you want to be involved and you want to be helping the team as well.
"It is difficult, you know, but you have to find your way through it mentally more than physically sometimes.
"It is challenging, obviously, from my first proper injury.
"You need to have all of the right people around you, which I do, and that has been massively beneficial towards my recovery and obviously I want to be taking some part in the sessions towards the end of the week.
"We will just see where we go from there.
"So we are just going to do whatever we can to make sure I am back on the pitch as soon as possible.”
McTominay appears the most likely of Scotland's injured Premier League stars to return for the Hampden showdown next month.
Both Kieran Tierney and John McGinn are also battling against the clock to be fit for the play off semi-final on March 26.
Tierney, too, has returned to training following shoulder surgery but is not expected to make a playing return until the end of March, with Arsenal previously reluctant to release the former Celtic left-back for international duty.
McGinn suffered a broken ankle and recently told Prince William, of all people, he's pushing to achieve full fitness in mid-March.
