Jason Pearce has received a medical injection in his injured left knee to help speed up the healing of his medial ligament.
The Charlton Athletic skipper saw a specialist on Tuesday (August 7) and the club hopes he will return to the squad “within two to three weeks”.
He was injured during the opening game of the 2018/19 League One season away to Sunderland, which the Addicks lost 2-1.
But head of medical services Alastair Thrush believes the knock is “not as bad as first feared.”
He said: “The injury is to the same knee and same medial ligament that Jason injured last season.
“The medical team have had in-depth discussions with the knee specialist and Jason himself to discuss the best treatment options and it has been decided that, as a result of the stability of the knee not being significantly compromised, we are going to opt for conservative management.
“The only other option would be to consider a surgical solution. It is accepted that we still may have to proceed to a surgical solution in the future, should the ligament be further injured again or not heal satisfactorily.
“But having weighed up all the options available and having sought the advice of the knee surgeon, we have decided on conservative management.”
Lyle Taylor’s debut goal for Charlton was cancelled out as Sunderland's Lynden Gooch scored a dramatic late winner at the Stadium of Light.
The new signing struck ten minutes in from the penalty spot but goals the Black Cats equalise through Josh Maja.
That was before Gooch stepped up four minutes into injury time to hand them all three points to hand boss Jack Ross a winning start.
Lee Bowyer's men will next take on Shrewsbury Town at the Valley on August 11.
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