Manchester City's Nasri targeting return from injury in late March

Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri hopes to resume full training with the rest of his teammates towards the end of March as he continues to recover from a thigh injury ahead of schedule.

Nasri, who suffered the problem during a practice session in October, has only managed to appear in seven league matches this season. There were fears that he would miss the rest of the campaign, but he has already begun rehab in the gym.

A return against Bournemouth on April 2 is not out of the realm of possibility.

"The original estimate by the doctors was that I'd be out for between four-to-six months and the surgeon told me the same, but I've already done two months and I'm targeting the international beak in March to be back properly with the squad," he said.

The 28-year-old said he required 100 stitches to reattach the muscle in his tendon - a "rare" injury, according to his doctor.

Although he is moving quicker than the staff imagined, Nasri is not willing to cut corners and risk any aggravation.

"We have a fantastic medical team here and though you always want to set targets to be back as a soon as possible, I want to return and be fully fit without any problems because this was kind of a big injury," said the Frenchman.