In the middle of August, right-hander Mattias Zachrisson was hit by a shoulder injury on a daily basis in Füchse Berlin, Bundesliga, and was forced into surgery.
Since then, the 29-year-old has struggled against the clock to get back into the game to be available for the home championship starting January 9.
But the situation is not looking bright at the moment.
- I can't throw a ball, at most I can fit a ball so I'm far from the handball now. I should never say that the European Championship is excluded, because it was a progress for me on Monday. But it looks dark. I would say it's 10/90 that I can play, ”says Mattias Zachrisson to SVT Sport.
What did the body respond to on Monday?
- It has cracked back and forth but from nowhere it was small until Monday and it got better. It was a big progress as it was quite bad and got slightly better. It is nice that something positive is happening.
The road to gaming is long, you say, what is it about time?
- I have a lot left to build up. I find it hard to see that I'm playing in a month. Rather, maybe three months, Zachrisson says.
Zachrisson has been in constant contact with the union captain Kristján Andrésson during the rehabilitation period, but right now it seems unlikely that he can play the European Championships.
- We definitely had a dialogue back and forth and followed up on how the injury is going, says Zachrisson.
The trophy for the European Championships in January will be presented on November 13.