Mohamed Salah has handed Liverpool a huge boost ahead of a crunch Premier League clash with Arsenal on Sunday.
Salah suffered a hamstring injury during Egypt's second match at the Africa Cup of Nations, and after watching his teammates reach the last-16 returned to Merseyside for treatment.
Neither club or national team put a timescale on his return, but it soon looked like the attacker would be out of action for longer than feared.
Egypt's elimination from the AFCON in the last-16 ended any prospect of Salah returning to the tournament, and now it looks like things couldn't have worked out better for Liverpool.
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On Thursday Salah shared to his Instagram Story two videos of him running lengths of one of the training pitches at Liverpool's training ground.
On Wednesday the club shared a photo of him jogging while wearing running trainers, but a day later he was back wearing football boots, suggesting that a return to action might not be too far off.
However, despite making clear progress, Sunday's trip to London to face Arsenal might come too soon for Salah.
The 31-year-old missed Liverpool's 4-1 win against Chelsea on Wednesday, and before the game Jurgen Klopp ruled him out of the trip to the Emirates Stadium too.
"There was no pressure on him other than wanting to get fit as quickly as possible anyway. We don't rush. If you could rush the healing process, Thiago wouldn't be out for 10 months," the Liverpool boss told reporters.
"Mo is not ready. Out for this game, out for the next. It could have been worse but he is not available at the moment."
A win at the Emirates Stadium will see Liverpool move eight points clear of the Gunners, delivering what would surely be a fatal blow to their title hopes.
Unless he makes a surprise appearance on Sunday, Salah could be in contention to feature against Burnley on February 10.
Topics: Liverpool, Mohamed Salah, Jurgen Klopp, Premier League, Egypt, Africa Cup Of Nations
Alex Brotherton