Manchester United captain Roy Keane will not return to action until January at the earliest, according to reports.

Keane is making slow progress following his hip operation in September as the problem has proved to be more complicated than first thought.

And, according to The Sun, the midfielder has been told by a specialist not to start full training for another month.

Sir Alex Ferguson had originally hoped his skipper would be back for the Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen on 13 November.

Subject to appeal, Keane is due to start his five-match ban this week, but the midfielder is still eligible to play in European games.

"He isn't as far forward as we thought he would be," said Ferguson on Sunday. "He is still a few weeks away.

"There is a long remedial period with this type of injury and he had done a lot of hard work, so we decided to give him a break last week.

"He needed a break because sometimes he can push himself a bit hard but he is back doing some good work again."

Keane has not played for United since he was dismissed for elbowing Sunderland's Jason McAteer at the end of August.

If the ban is invoked, he would not be available for domestic duties until the beginning of next month.