Corinthians coach Mano Menezes is confident he will have Ronaldo available for first-team action as soon as possible.

The 32-year-old strikes, who is in the latter stages of recuperating from a serious knee injury, has lost four kilograms in training since joining the club in December.

"He's almost ready," said Menezes.

"We played a 70-minute training game and he took part in the whole thing. He is progressing very well."

Ronaldo will play another 70 minutes in training next week and should be back in action in March.

"We made this plan of longer training sessions not only for him, but also for the other players who are usually substitutes," said Menezes.

"In midweek we'll do it again and evaluate his progress."