Barcelona defender Jeremy Mathieu is still hoping to return to fitness in time to make France's Euro 2016 squad.
Mathieu, 32, looked likely to miss the tournament after hobbling off with a knee injury in France's 4-2 win over Russia last week.
The former Valencia defender has since had surgery to repair the torn meniscus and now believes he can recover rapidly enough to feature for the Euro 2016 hosts this summer.
"Normally it's four or five weeks," Mathieu told RMC when asked about how long he would be out for.
"I'm a little ahead of schedule but the doctor is holding me up a bit because it's true you're always in a rush to come back as quickly as possible. But it's progressing well."
Mathieu had replaced Patrice Evra at half-time in the game against Russia in Paris in what was his last chance to impress before France coach Didier Deschamps names his 23-man squad for Euro 2016 on May 12.
But Mathieu, who can play at centre-back or left-back, lasted only eight minutes before being forced off. "It's true that I maybe had a card to play," he said. "But it's not finished.
"I'll try to come back before the squad is announced in order to be able to play maybe four or five matches with Barcelona. "After that, we'll see the squad. But it's true that I was disappointed not to be able to show myself one last time."