Stephen Francis, coach of Olympic 100-metre silver medalist Sherone Simpson, said his athlete will resume training within a month but she remains doubtful for next summer's World Championships in Berlin, Germany.

On a radio programme last month, Francis confirmed that Simpson injured her knee while training in Tianjin, China, prior to the start of the 100-metre heats at the Beijing Games in mid-August.

Competed in Europe before surgery

However, Simpson went on to run 10.98 seconds for silver in Beijing and subsequently competed in Europe before surgery was carried out on her injured left knee.

Francis told STAR Sports on Tuesday that Simpson will begin light training shortly.

"She will resume training, I think, within another month, but she cannot do any running on the surface for a little while," said Francis.

Resume sprinting at the international level

"Probably it's likely that she will be out, certainly for the Jamaican trials, but hopefully she will be able to resume sprinting at the international level in August," he added.

Asked if it wasn't too early to rule out Simpson running at the National Championships, Francis said: "Based on the time when she is going to resume actual running, its going to be too late."

Francis, however, remains positive.

"Hopefully, the three months she has before the trials she will be able to come back. We will see."