Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta says the more time Lionel Messi can spend on the pitch during Saturday's Clasico at Real Madrid the better.
Messi's readiness to play at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday evening has been a huge talking point in the build up to the game -- with the Argentine not having featured for two months since injuring a ligament in his knee in late September.
The 28-year-old has returned to training with his colleagues during the international break, and this week teammate Luis Suarez suggested the only remaining question was whether the Blaugrana talisman would start the game or come off the bench in the second half.
Iniesta told a news conference that it was too early yet to know whether Messi would be in the starting XI, but if he was given a medical all-clear it meant he was ready.
"I've not seen much of him [due to being away with Spain], but the news is very good," Iniesta said. "He is training with us, the feelings are very positive and I hope he can be with us -- he is fundamental for the team.
"If he is named in the match squad it is because he can start the game. It is very difficult to say how best to use him. The more time he is on the pitch, the better. But we will have to wait and see."
Barca's excellent form while Messi has been sidelined, along with a 3-2 loss for Madrid at Sevilla last time out, means the Catalan outfit go into the game three points clear at the top of the Liga table.
"We are three points ahead, but that must not make us relax," Iniesta said. "The two best teams in the world are playing, with top level players. We are relaxed, more as we know we are playing consistently well, than because of the advantage in the table.
"To go to their stadium is difficult. If we want to win we will have to play very well, knowing the objective is to increase the distance in the standings."
Iniesta was part of the Spain squad whose game in Brussels on Tuesday was called off due to security concerns following the terror attacks in Paris last Friday.
"The situation generates unease," he said. "For what we know, and what we've been told, there will be a lot of security and they are taking all possible measures so that everything happens as it should, so the sport and the game are the best."