Kevin De Bruyne will be back from his knee injury ahead of schedule - if Roberto Martinez's latest comments are to be believed.

The Manchester City midfielder injured his knee in training at the beginning of the season and was subsequently ruled out for around three months.

During City's recent win over Fulham, De Bruyne was filmed telling an opposition player he was expecting to be back in around 'six weeks'.

That would make him available for City's much-anticipated derby match with rivals Manchester United on 11 November, but City have not put a time-frame on De Bruyne's return.

Now, his national team manager Martinez has said he thinks De Bruyne could be back earlier than expected.

“It was a freak accident, it happens, football is a contact sport," Martinez said at the FIFA Football Conference in London this week.

“The issue is how long he will be out and the reports are very positive.

“I think we'll see him on the pitch a lot earlier than other players would take with that injury [and] we think he could be even fresher after his period away.

“No time scale yet but Kevin wants to be on the football pitch as quick as he can and physically he's got that natural gift of being able to heal quicker than other players.”