Aymeric Laporte hopes to return from injury in six to eight weeks and also said Manchester City "still have time" to catch Premier League leaders Liverpool in this season's title race.
The 25-year-old hasn't featured since he suffered a serious knee injury on August 31, which has forced manager Pep Guardiola to use midfielders Fernandinho and Rodrigo in central defence at times.
Laporte is expecting to make a return in the early stages of 2020, and he told The National's Jon Turner: "(My recovery) is going very well. Still I need time, but I hope as soon as possible I can come back and play with my team-mates.