AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato is confident he will recover from injury in time to play against Inter Milan in the city derby on April 2.
Pato sprained his left ankle in Milan's 1-0 defeat at Palermo last weekend and is set to miss Brazil's international friendly against Scotland in London on Sunday.
"There are still many days left until April 2," he said.
"The ankle is better. I really hope to play against Inter Milan. The fans should be calm. We are still top of the league ahead of Inter."
Should Pato recover, it would be great news for AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri considering that Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss the derby through suspension.
Ibrahimovic was handed a three-match ban for punching rival defender Marco Rossi in his team's 1-1 draw against Bari earlier this month.
Inter have cut the gap with Serie A leaders AC Milan to just two points with nine games remaining.
