Barcelona attacker Lionel Messi has refused to put a date on his return to action from a hamstring injury.

The 26-year-old picked up the problem earlier this month and had been tipped to recover in time for the first week of January.

Although the Argentine has not ruled out the possibility of him turning out for Barca early next year, he has insisted that he will only play again when he is fully fit.

"I'm better, improving little by little, I'm nearly without any pain and starting to do little things," he said after he had collected the Golden Boot award this afternoon. "I haven't put a return date. If everything goes well this will be the date to return, but we'll see how the recovery goes. It will happen when it has to happen."

Messi has scored 14 goals from 16 appearances this season.