Bayern Munich star Franck Ribery is responding well to treatment on a knee injury and could be back playing within a month.

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The France winger broke down during the goalless draw with Cologne on October 3 and, after the club made an initial prognosis of four-weeks, surgeon Jean-Henry Jaeger said he could miss twice that much and may even require surgery.

But, after a week of treatment, team physician Hans Wilhelm Mueller is more positive.

"He is making good progress," Dr Mueller told German media. "He is on his way to fitness for Bayern.

"We will treat him for a month now, then we will see.

"But it is going well and, while we cannot exclude surgery, at the moment the treatment is working and therefore we must not operate."

Ribery is set to miss France's two-legged World Cup play-off against Republic of Ireland on November 14 and 18.