Injured Wallabies winger Lote Tuqiri remains optimistic his troublesome left knee won't force him out of the upcoming six-match Spring tour.
Tuqiri underwent surgery to repair meniscus damage 11 days ago prompting coach Robbie Deans to extend his touring party to 34 players in the event the 66-Test veteran is unable to take his place.
The 29-year-old, who has four weeks to prove his fitness before the squad departs on October 27 ahead of the historic Bledisloe Cup clash in Hong Kong, will be confined to the sidelines throughout this week's four-day training camp in Sydney.
"Optimistic is probably the best word but we'll check it out this week and talk to the (medical) staff and the coaches and just go from there," Tuqiri said at the Wallabies' team hotel on Monday morning.
"Hopefully I can gain some confidence over the next couple of weeks. I probably won't run this week, I'll just keep doing some rehab and some strengthening exercises and also upper-body aerobic work, but yeah I'm optimistic."
While desperate not to miss out on the gruelling tour which sees the Wallabies meet New Zealand, Italy, England, France, Wales and the Barbarians, the dual international insists he will adopt a cautious approach.
"Hopefully I can get through but in saying that, I've got to be smart about it and listen to the doctor's advice and listen to my body as well," he said.
"It'll be an interesting couple of weeks for me and I'd say probably stressful as well."
Tuqiri, who has tasted little team success since crossing codes in 2003, conceded the prospect of continued improvement under Deans and the chance to be part of the evolution of the Wallabies makes the timing of his injury tough to swallow.
"It's been refreshing this year to have a lot of young guys and to get some results that we sort of haven't done in the last couple of years," Tuqiri said.
"That's what we really wanted to do this year and going forward into the tour there's a lot of big Test matches that I think we can win."
"We've won in South Africa and that was a big milestone, we didn't get the Tri Nations but certainly, we definitely had a crack - we're not too far off."
"It all seems like it's going forward and going positively pretty well and to go on the tour and hopefully get a few results over there would be really good."
Meanwhile, No.8 Wycliff Palu will be confined to the sidelines this week and also remains in doubt with a knee injury suffered against the All Blacks.
In better news, scrumhalf Luke Burgess (knee) and inside-centre Berrick Barnes (shoulder) both returned to the training field on Monday and will be available for selection for the tour opener on November 1.