Pocock's race against time

Wallabies flank David Pocock is not confident that he will recover from his knee injury in time to tour Europe next month.

Coach Robbie Deans is set to name a 30-man touring squad for the year-end tour next week, but it is not yet clear whether Pocock and captain James Horwill will recover from their injuries in time to make the squad.

Pocock tore his medial knee ligaments in the opening Bledisloe Cup encounter against the All Blacks in August and has made good progress since having surgery, but a final call on his availability for the European tour will only be made by the Wallabies medical team this weekend.

Deans remains hopeful that the star openside and lock Horwill (hamstring) will be able to play some part towards the end of the tour, but Pocock himself is not too sure.

"I'm not holding my breath," he told AAP.

"You always hope that you can get back on the field and play but whether that's realistic I'm not sure.

"I've gotten stuck in in Canberra the past month or so and am slowly improving. It's hard to gauge how far I am away from playing. It's all about upping the load now," he explained.

The Wallabies face England, Italy and Wales, and with scrumhalf Will Genia ruled out for the rest of the year with a knee injury Deans will be desperate to call on the leadership abilities of both Pocock and Horwill.