MADRID - Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo expects he will have recovered sufficiently from an ankle injury to be able to return to training by the middle of this week.

"The most important thing for me is to return when I am at 100 percent," the Portuguese international said in an interview published in Monday's As newspaper.

"Let's see what happens but around the middle of this week I am confident I will already be working with my team mates.

"This week I will have another test to see if I am fit but the recovery is well on track."

Ronaldo was injured in late September and aggravated the problem in Portugal's 3-0 win over Hungary 10 days later. He has not played since but could return for second-placed Real's La Liga match against Racing Santander on Saturday.