Bell played with a protective boot during England's loss to Bangladesh

Injured England batsman Ian Bell says he is on course to return to action with Warwickshire later this month.

Bell broke a metatarsal bone in his left foot during England's one-day defeat by Bangladesh in July, but says he is pleased with his recovery.

"Hopefully, I can have the last month of the county season, fingers crossed," said the 28-year-old with an eye on the Ashes series in Australia this winter.

"I'll do as much as I can to get back on the field as soon as possible."

If he gets his wish of four weeks of county cricket, Bell could be back in the Warwickshire team for their LV County Championship Division One match against Nottinghamshire which starts on 16 August.

"It was obviously a frustrating injury to get, but hopefully I can get my body right, get some cricket under my belt and be alright for the winter," he continued.

England play Twenty20 matches and a one-day series against Pakistan in September and then take a break before heading down under, with their first tour match against Western Australia in Perth on 5 November.

It's a patience game but at least it's moving in the right direction, which is good Ian Bell

Bell said: "I'll be working as hard as I can [on my fitness] in September and October.

"When the other [England] guys are having a bit of a break at the end of the season, I'll be working to get ready for the biggest test of all."

Bell added, however, that he would not risk his recovery by returning too soon.

"So far, the experts are really happy with things, but, being a break, it's the kind of injury that if you come back too early and it's not fixed properly then it could break again," he said.

"It's been slow going in terms of what I can do in the last couple of weeks, but in the next 10 days or so I can start doing a bit more and move on to the next stage of my rehab.

"It's a patience game but at least it's moving in the right direction, which is good."

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