Highlanders winger Waisake Naholo could make his return on Saturday against the Chiefs in Hamilton.
The powerful winger sustained a fracture in his leg during the Highlanders opening Super Rugby game against the Blues, but has been progressing in training and club rugby.
Naholo scored three tries and played 80 minutes during his club rugby return on the weekend and assistant coach Tony Brown says the 24-year-old is shaping up to feature away to the Super Rugby leaders.
"He's in pretty good shape and confident he can get out there," said Brown.
"He's still got a little bit of work to do by Thursday to make sure he's okay to go. Hopefully if he gets through that then fingers crossed he'll be good to go."
Although Naholo has a history of injuries and almost missed the World Cup with a leg fracture, Brown believes it's just unfortunate and steams from his style of play rather than making a premature return to the field.
"He's a physical player and obviously he's very hard to stop so everyone is giving everything when they're trying to tackle him. He gets hammered a little bit, but I think he's confident in his ability and he's over that injury."
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