Barcelona head coach Xavi has revealed that Frenkie de Jong has been pencilled in to make his return for the Catalan giants in the clash with Rayo Vallecano after the international break.
The Netherlands international has not featured for the La Liga champions since the contest with Celta Vigo at the end of September due to an ankle problem.
De Jong trained ahead of El Clasico on October 28, but he reported with pain in his ankle on the morning of the match, which led to him being left out against Real Madrid.
The 26-year-old has also since missed out against Real Sociedad and Shakhtar Donetsk amid suggestions that he is finding it difficult to overcome the problem.
De Jong will also miss Sunday's La Liga clash with Alaves, but Xavi has said that the midfielder should be fit for the clash with Rayo on November 25.
Xavi also revealed that both Robert Lewandowski and Pedri are at "100%" for the contest with Alaves, with the pair recently returning from injury lay-offs.
"Frenkie will be against Rayo and Pedri is 100%. [Robert] Lewandowski is at 100%, he accuses this lack of positional play. We have not attacked well nor have we nurtured Robert in the way we always do. I insist that it is a lack of positional play," said the manager.
Gavi is absent for the clash with Alaves due to suspension, while Sergi Roberto remains on the sidelines due to a calf issue, with his return likely to come in December.
Xavi criticised his side for their performance in the 1-0 loss to Shakhtar in the Champions League, and the head coach has called for a response against Alaves.
"With the utmost enthusiasm and with the desire to rediscover ourselves with the game. We have just played two games without playing well and we must recover," he added.
"We have to organise ourselves more and be more faithful to our identity. We have a very tough and rocky team in front of us.
"I think it's time to tweak things and propose some variation. It's time for the coach and the players to meet again. We must restore order.
"I think we have trained well and we have correctly analysed the mistakes. The schedule has been given like this and we knew that the players would go with their national teams, nothing changes."
Barcelona are currently third in the La Liga table, four points behind leaders Girona, while they are two points behind second-placed Real Madrid. body check tags ::
