Everton boss David Moyes says James Vaughan could be back playing before season's end.
"Vaughany is out doing a bit of light running and other things at the moment and I think it is going to be the start of May if we get to see him," said Moyes.
"We might be able to call on him for four or five matches but it won't be before May. He seems fine at the minute but he hasn't joined in full training yet.
"Providing he is fine, we'd be looking at pitching him back in a couple of weeks time and then we'd give him the full month of April to try and get match fit.
"If that happens, we might be able to get a bit of use from him in May. It's hard to tell how much we have missed him.
"He's very tough, robust and throws himself about maybe more than he should - but that's the way he plays. If he wasn't like that, he wouldn't be the player he is. We'd never take that aggression out of him. Maybe it's just been that his knees have not been able to take it at times."