The Bulgarian striker’s season has been ruined by a cruciate ligament injury sustained just six minutes into his first start for the Blues in the home derby last August.
His rehabilitation programme under the careful supervision of the medical and physio team at Carrington now has him on the verge of a comeback, although Sven-Goran Eriksson says it was touch-and-go until the last few days.
“If you had asked me a week ago, I would have said ‘maybe’, but as of now I believe he will play before the end of the season,” Eriksson declares.
“On Tuesday he had an excellent training session, the best I have seen since he got injured.
“This Thursday the reserves play Liverpool, and he will take part in that, maybe for the last 20 or 30 minutes. He was much better this week than last, it’s looking much better for him.
“He’s doing everything in training now, he’s still far away from being 100% but it would be great for him, mentally, if he could get one more taste of the Premier League this season. I’m sure he wishes it was not ending so soon.”
