Munich, Sep 10 (IANS): German football giants Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm is confident that teammate Franck Ribery will overcome his injury worries and become a key figure for the Bundesliga champions once more.

The former France international has not featured for Bayern since picking up a back injury in their 7-0 Champions League win over Shakhtar Donetsk back in March and it remains unclear when he will return, German tabloid Bild reported on Thursday.

New signing Douglas Costa impressed during Ribery's absence and some have questioned whether the 32-year-old still has a future at Bayern.

Nevertheless, Lahm laughed off suggestions that the French winger's time in Munich is nearing its end and has backed him to come back stronger.

"I am convinced that Franck will return to his best. Everybody who writes him off is making a big mistake. We are there for him as a team to support him and to build him up again after all his misfortune," the report quoted Lahm as saying.

"And he is 100 percent motivated. It is not like he has lost his desire to return. I am absolutely certain that he will get back to his best form.

"And we all saw last season that we need players like Franck if we want to achieve our goals," Lahm said.