Hamburger SV captain Rafael van der Vaart has revealed that he could be fit to face Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga this weekend.

Van der Vaart suffered cartilage and tendon damage in his ankle during Hamburg's 4-2 defeat at the hands of Eintracht Braunschweig on February 15 and was expected to miss three weeks with the injury.

However, the 31-year-old midfielder trained on Tuesday without aggravating the problem and said that an early return could be on the cards if he gets through the rest of the week unscathed.

"If I can train all week well, I'm fit for Bremen," Van der Vaart told Kicker.

Van der Vaart was absent as Hamburg made an impressive start to life under Mirko Slomka, beating Borussia Dortmund 3-0 to move up to 16th in the table.