Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho hasn't given up on Gonzalo Higuain playing again this season.
On Higuain, who has been absent since November with a herniated disc, Mourinho admits he is not expecting to have the 23-year-old back in the next couple of months.
Mourinho also urged the other players to make sure there is still something to play for by the time the Argentina international can return.
"I wouldn't like to continue reading that in two months he will be training and playing," Mourinho said of Higuain, Madrid's leading scorer in the last two league campaigns.
"We need to leave him in peace to recover. He is going to be suffering, because if he doesn't play he suffers, as happened with Kaka.
"I only hope that the team can give him hope of still being useful this season, at the end of May. To do this we must have decisive games to play, like the Champions League or Copa del Rey, this would be his hope and his motivation.
"I know that he won't be able to play in March and I'm calm about it. Now he will be in the best hands possible, and in these hands and with his desire he will recover."
