MANCHESTER -- Samir Nasri and Frank Lampard could be fit to make their Manchester City returns in the derby against Manchester United next weekend.
Both midfielders will miss Saturday's match against Lampard's first club West Ham at Upton Park, but are on the comeback trail.
Nasri, who underwent groin surgery in September, has resumed training after missing City's last six matches.
Lampard was stretchered off in Saturday's 4-1 win over Tottenham and did not travel to Russia for Tuesday's 2-2 draw against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League, but manager Manuel Pellegrini said he was likely to return sooner than City had feared.
He told a news conference: "After we returned from Russia, Samir started working with the whole squad. Maybe next week he will be okay.
"Frank is not ready for this week, but maybe I think next week he will start working with the whole squad. It will be a short injury, less than we thought at the beginning. All the other players in the squad are fit."
Lampard will stay with City until January when he is set to link up with New York City FC as they prepare for their inaugural season in Major League Soccer.
There have been suggestions that the American club could spend some of their pre-season in England, allowing Lampard to play on for City for longer.
But Pellegrini said: "One thing is not related to the other thing. Maybe New York City can work here in January, but that is not depending on the future of Frank Lampard. We will see what the future of Frank is. For the moment, he is here in Manchester City."
City's game at Upton Park is a meeting with another of the Premier League's current top four, and Pellegrini praised the Hammers for the fine football they have played since the summer arrivals of strikers Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia.
He added: "They have different players and they are playing in a different way. They have bought two important strikers and they are doing very well."
City beat West Ham four times last season, including a 6-0 thrashing at the Etihad Stadium in the Capital One Cup, but Pellegrini said he was not expecting a repeat.
He added: "I don't think one season has any relation with this season. It is a different moment for both teams. I don't think we are going to repeat the score that we had last season against them."