Swans midfielder Ferrie Bodde has revealed that he could be back in action before the end of the season after escaping an operation.

The highly-rated Dutch dynamo was back at the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday night to watch the Swans grind out a 1-0 victory over Plymouth.

It was a brief visit to Wales after spending nearly three months at home in Holland recovering from a second cruciate knee ligament injury.

It was an injury, sustained against Sheffield United on September 26, which was expected to need an operation and keep him out for the rest of the Championship campaign and up to 12 months.

But Bodde returned to Holland and following expert opinion from a top Dutch knee surgeon, the midfielder never went under the knife.

Instead, Swansea have been monitoring his progress under Dutch physio Corne van Geest and fitness and rehabilitation coach Rob Meppelink, a former technical director at Bodde's old club ADO Den Haag.

"The scans I had in Swansea straight after the injury looked to confirm another tear in my meniscus (knee cartilage),'' explained Bodde. "I was devastated.

"But when I went back to Holland for a second opinion, the surgeon there told me to wait a couple of weeks for the swelling to go down before confirming the full extent of the damage.

"When I had the second scan three or four weeks later, the surgeon said I didn't have extensive damage to the meniscus as first thought. The cartilage was ok. I couldn't believe it.

"He said he was really pleased with my progress and wasn't going to operate at that stage.

"It was an unbelievable feeling because I had been really down. The thought of being out for another year had made me really low.

"The support I received from the fans lifted me a bit, along with the positive reaction of the chairman (Huw Jenkins) and the manager (Paulo Sousa). It was nice that people are thinking about you and the supporters believed in me; but my head was still all over the place.

The good news from the top Dutch surgeon spurred Bodde on though.

"I've been training six days a week,'' he added. "From 9am until 3pm, with only a 30 minute break in between; sometimes not even that.

"I've improved my stability and the movement in my knee playing football in the sand. I've even done some passing drills.

"Every time I've gone back to the surgeon he has said my knee is improving.''

But Bodde and Swans chairman Huw Jenkins aren't getting carried away at such an early stage.

They know that if he can come through the rehabilitation process without having an operation, it will be a massive bonus and speed up his comeback.

"It's positive news, but we are all still very cautious,'' explained Huw Jenkins. "That's why we didn't want to announce that he hadn't had the operation until now.