"Fernando has made a remarkable effort to get himself fit and ready for Premier League football and he has a chance but that has been played down by the sports science people who said in an ideal world he would have a longer preparation period.
"They are rightly concerned if he plays too early he could have a recurrence of a knee problem which could keep him out for longer. "Of course the player's feelings also have to be taken into account so it is quite a delicate mixture.
"A large part of the work he has been doing has been outside of work with the team in the ball work we have been doing and has been much more geared to physical preparation and less to football and team preparation and that is the major consideration."