Roma coach Rudi Garcia has announced that Egyptian star striker Mohamed Salah will be available for his Italian club’s UEFA Champions League encounter with BATE Borisov on Wednesday night.

The Pharaohs attacker has been injured since early in November during the Roman derby between rivals Lazio and Roma.

The injury was expected to keep him out for up to six weeks, but with this important encounter requiring the best from the Giallorossi, Salah has been named amongst the 19 players Roma will use for the game against BATE.

Roma are currently fighting for a place in the knockout rounds of the competition. Barcelona have already qualified for the next round as winner of Group E on 13 points, but the second place is still wide open, with Roma and Leverkusen tied on five points, while BATE is one point behind their Italian and German counterparts.

Garcia admits that Salah is not expected to play the entire game, but will be available for selection, which adds to the strength of his squad.

“Mohamed is fine. He doesn’t have 90 minutes in him, but he’s ready,” Garcia told the media at a press conference, according to La Repubblica.

“The BATE match is like a derby, it’s a match we have to win. We need to have the right attitude and that means fighting from the first minute and showing that we are desperate to get through to the next round. It’s been one of our goals since the start of the season,” the coach added.

“I’m just thinking about winning and tomorrow we will win – there’s nothing else we can say or do. We cannot, and we do not want to, rely on a draw between Bayer Leverkusen and Barcelona, that’s not the right attitude. The proper way to approach the match is to fight and to prove on the pitch that we have a real burning desire to get through,” he said.

“These kinds of important qualification matches don’t happen often at this club and we want more of them in the future. We want to be in Nyon for the draw,” he admitted.

Salah will hope to receive some game time to begin building his fitness once again, so that he can recapture the form that has made him a popular figure at the club.