Mark Hughes is hopeful that Craig Bellamy will be back in the Blackburn Rovers side quicker than first expected.

While Bellamy is likely to still be out for Saturday's match at Fulham, the results of the scan on his thigh injury suggest he could boost the squad in the hectic Christmas period.

"We're quite hopeful," said Hughes. "There was talk that he was going to be out until January, which was a little bit premature.

"But he's had the scan and we're very hopeful he could be back in seven to 10 days."