Ireland's injured fullback Geordan Murphy, who was sidelined for the World Cup, hopes to be fit in time for next year's Six Nations championship.
The 25-year-old broke his leg against Scotland several weeks before Eddie O'Sullivan's men travelled to Australia for the World Cup. But Murphy hopes he has turned the corner after his disappointment.
"If everything goes according to plan, I'll be back in February," he said on BBC Online. "I've set myself some very short term targets.
This month I want to be jogging and getting my ankle moving. Next month I want to be changing direction and so on until I'm back to the player I was pre-World Cup."
Murphy believes the Six Nations is a realistic return date: "There's a big chance I'll be back for the Six Nations," he said. "I'll be doing lots of fitness though I'll be out of match practice, so hopefully I can get a couple of games for Leicester under my belt.
"You never know what is going to happen. I'm not ruling myself out of anything."
