Aymeric Laporte, the Manchester City defender, expects to make his long-awaited comeback from injury before the end of January.

Laporte, 25, has not played since he damaged ligaments in his right knee in City’s 4-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in August. One of the reasons why City have fallen 14 points behind league leaders Liverpool is because they have missed the presence and ball-playing skills of the France international.

Laporte started training with the first team squad just after Christmas.

Pep Guardiola, the City manager, refuses to put a timeframe on his defender’s return, but The Times understands that Laporte himself expects to play this month. City have three more league games — including Sunday’s match against Aston Villa — an FA Cup