Gareth Delve will not let his heart rule his head when it comes to targeting Gloucester's Heineken Cup crunch with hometown club Cardiff Blues as his comeback game.

The No 8 has not played since suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage on Wales' summer tour to South Africa six months ago – but could return to contact training with his club next week.

He would then come into contention for Gloucester's January matches against Cardiff, Biarritz and London Irish – but will not rush his comeback purely to face the Blues.

"It is going really well and I am doing a lot of the training with the guys – everything apart from contact," said Delve, who turned 26 two days ago.

"It has been good the last week, doing all the line-outs with the forwards and jumping in and out of the attack and defence sessions. I am pleased with the advances I have made.

"Obviously it would be fantastic to be involved against Cardiff, but with everything that is riding on that game, I am not sure it would be the ideal match to come back in.

"I have to tick all the boxes before I come back, and that means that when I do, I am worthy of my place in the team and able to make an impact.

"Of course it would be great to run out against the Cardiff boys at Kingsholm, but I just think it might be a little bit too soon. We will see how things go over the next couple of weeks."

Gloucester host the Blues on January 18 – and need to beat the Welsh side to have a realistic chance of reaching the last eight.

First, they take on Saracens in the Guinness Premiership on Saturday, before an away league fixture at Newcastle on January 11.