The Ghanaian international has been out of the game for months after suffering a horrific cruciate ligament injury in August.

"According to physio Thierry Laurent, it should not take more than one month for me to play actively again," Essien told The Guardian.

"Laurent assured me that once we go through a few other exercises for two or three weeks, I should be fit enough to return to the pitch."

Essien's return should be a massive boost for Chelsea, who had to replace manager Luiz Felipe Scolari with Guus Hiddink after failing to hold on to the Premiership summit.

"Hiddink knows what it takes to get positive results out of nothing,” the 26-year-old added.

"He is a fantastic manager. We hope he will bring the magic to give us the strength we need to mount a challenge in all competitions."