Nicky Henderson has not ruled out the possibility of Grandouet running in the Stan James Champion Hurdle despite the five-year-old undergoing surgery on Tuesday.
Grandouet was set to complete his Cheltenham preparations in the Kingwell Hurdle on Saturday but he was withdrawn on the eve of the race after banging his leg in his box.
He underwent investigative surgery on his near-hind leg on Tuesday and will have a couple of days rest before any decision is made regarding the Champion Hurdle.
Henderson believes the gelding has a realistic chance of making it to Cheltenham as he has not missed too much work.
"He had a bit of surgery last night to flush an infected hind fetlock joint. It's a peculiar one, it's not everyday stuff, there's no wound or anything," Henderson said.
"We had to flush out a bit of infection inside the joint, rather than outside it, and that all went well. As a consequence he was much more comfortable this morning. He's walking sound on it.
"We can't do anything more today. At this stage he hasn't missed anything significant because on Friday when he was first lame he had a day off and then Saturday and he did actually have a couple of days swimming.
"Unfortunately it reacted yesterday. We'll just have to monitor it and see how we get on. We have to give it every chance and we will keep everybody absolutely posted on what we are doing.
"We have relieved the pressure on it and, if that holds, he was very fit last Thursday and at the moment we are not missing anything.
"It will become a concern, obviously, and you can only have so many days off at this stage, but as long as he is working by this weekend we are still in action and we've still got a chance.
"He not as sore as he was, and as long as the infection can be controlled, we've still got a realistic chance."