Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is optimistic about his chances of returning to pre-season training with his teammates.

The German moved to City from Borussia Dortmund last summer, but his debut season was cut short in December when he injured ligaments in his right knee.

Gundogan admits it has been hard training on his own after commencing training two weeks before his teammates, but he is confident his extra work will get him back to playing football soon.

"I still have to do a lot of work until I am back but I am ready and working hard. I am in a good way," Gundogan told the club's website.

"I am just waiting for the team to come back and maybe I am able to join the first bits of every training session - so warm-up stuff, some passing, some tactical stuff.

"Then hopefully over the next weeks I will be able to join them for the rest of the training sessions and, of course, the games."