NEW YORK — One day after he feared briefly that his season might be over after a line drive clanged off the side of his right knee, Jon Lester returned to Yankee Stadium with limited swelling, and suggested that he expects to make one more start before the end of the regular season. Lester did permit that there is some wiggle room should the team decide that it makes sense to push him back a day or two from his scheduled Thursday start, but overall, he seemed satisfied that his condition will not prevent him from making either another regular-season start or from being ready when the postseason kicks off.

“It’s still attached, so we’re going in the right direction,” Lester joked. “It still hurts, but it will be alright. It’s not too swollen right now, it’s just a little red mark right now so like I said, everything is going in the right direction.”

“He’s got a nice bruise,” noted Sox manager Terry Francona. “He knows he got hit there. But I think all things considered, he looks fantastic.”

Lester said that he will try to throw his scheduled side session on Monday, which would offer a good indication of how much time he might need to be ready to endure the physical demands of a start. Sox manager Terry Francona allowed that a lot of pitchers skip their side sessions between outings at this time of year in an effort to preserve bullets, so if Lester cannot throw between starts, it wouldn’t necessarily mean that he couldn’t take the ball on schedule.

Even if Lester’s start does get nudged back by a day or two, he didn’t seem to think that would be a problem.

“I think we have some flexibility in days as far as which day we’re able to pitch. I think I should be able to start one more time before the end of the season,” said Lester. “I think everything is up in the air right now. As of now, I’m planning on starting my next start, but it’s up to them if they want to be cautious or be conservative and make it a day later or two days later, then that’s what we have to do. I would like to get on the mound again with live hitters and get ready for the playoffs.”

Francona, meanwhile, suggested that if necessary, the Sox could have Lester skip his start and not pitch again in a game atmosphere until the postseason. That said, the team would prefer that he does take the ball in the coming week, since if he is not pitching, it would mean that the pitcher was limping and still dealing with the aftermath of the liner. All things considered, then, the team wants Lester healthy and taking the bump for an anticipated playoff tune-up.

The left-hander said that his knee seems to feel better today than it did on Friday, and that it’s not as stiff as he anticipated after taking a pretty direct shot. He also noted that it was “a good thing the ball hit me where it did,” considering that he did not suffer any sort of break or fracture.

Though encouraged by his physical state, Lester cautioned that he hadn’t actually done any meaningful physical activity, and until he saw how his knee responded to activity, he couldn’t judge whether he had indeed avoided disruption to his routine. He planned to ride an exercise bike on Saturday to see how his knee was holding up. He’s also been icing his knee in an effort to minimize swelling, which appears to be the biggest threat to his schedule.

“As long as the swelling stays down, then we’re going in the right direction. If that swelling comes back or gets worse, we get behind the eight ball,” he said. “That’s when I won’t be able to pitch. As long as we keep that swelling down, everything will be fine.”