Fulham boss Mark Hughes believes Steve Sidwell could come back into contention by the end of March.
The midfielder, who was snapped up by the Cottagers from Aston Villa during the January transfer window, is currently nursing a knee injury.
He picked up the problem in training and was initially ruled out for up to three weeks.
Hughes is confident the 28-year-old will return inside that timeframe, providing he suffers no unforeseen setbacks.
"It's still early days for him and it's quite an unusual injury, in terms of where it is," the Welsh tactician told Fulham's official website.
"It's outside his knee and quite high on the ligament so I'm going to be cautious with him, but he's on track.
"Hopefully the timescale we've been given in terms of his recovery will be okay."