Marco Reus faces a delayed return to action for Borussia Dortmund but the club remain hopeful he can feature this month.
The 27-year-old playmaker has been out of action since sustaining a groin injury in the DFB-Pokal final defeat to Bayern Munich in May.
Dortmund had predicted he would return for mid-September and though he has yet to return to training, general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke remains optimistic.
“I’m not a doctor, but we do have a bit of a delay,” he said.
“Today is September 13 and there are 30 days in September, so that means we still have 17 days.”
Reus completed the cup final but was ruled out of Euro 2016, where Germany reached the semi-finals.