Arsenal's Mesut Ozil is battling back to fitness, with his knee still in a brace following the injury he sustained against Chelsea earlier this month.
Ozil and Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger were shocked when it was revealed that the Germany World Cup winner had suffered a "serious knee injury" in the defeat at Stamford Bridge, with ligament damaged only identified by German national team doctors several days after the incident.
It seems likely that Ozil will not play first team football again in 2014, but he revealed that he is doing all he can to stay fit and tweeted a picture of himself working out in the gym on Thursday.
no, this is neither a red carpet nor a magic carpet. it is just the place where I'm working for my comeback. �� pic.twitter.com/rxeg6atQJT
- Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) October 30, 2014
Wenger has refused to put a timescale on Ozil's recovery, insisting that the belated detection of the injury was not the fault of the Arsenal medical staff.
"We have our own specialist giving us his opinion after reading the scan and examining Mesut," he said. "We will follow our own recommendations."
In the last couple of weeks, Arsenal's midfield injury crisis has been eased by the return to fitness of Aaron Ramsey and Mikel Arteta, while Theo Walcott is pushing for a return to Premier League action at home to Burnley on Saturday.
Wenger's biggest injury concern heading into his next fixture is full-back Kieran Gibbs, who is struggling with a hip problem.