The striker was ruled out for a prolonged period after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in training in January and having surgery on the injury.
It was the second time that Unal had torn his ACL, after doing the same while at Getafe.
As a result, Iraola admitted they cannot rush the Turkish striker back into training and must be patient, but he praised Unal’s professionalism and dedication to his rehab.
Asked for an update on Unal’s progress, Iraola said: “He's not close. I wish he was closer because I think he's an important player for us but has started running and doing some things alone.
(Image: Richard Crease) “But it's a big, big injury. The one he had is just the ACL, but it's the second ACL in the same knee.
“Sometimes you have the second ACL but it's the other knee and more or less is easier. But this one is the second one.
“So we cannot also rush him. Right now I want to have Enes as close to his level as possible. If it takes two more weeks, let's give him two more weeks. If he takes one more month, one more month.
“But we have to make sure that when he comes he has a good turn of games and he doesn't have any setback.
“He's very professional in his recovery. He will do whatever he can. He spends here more hours than anyone, for sure. He's the player who spends more hours here.
“But he has a big injury and right now he's not close. He's not close to training with us. But I hope we can have him in one moment before Christmas, definitely, I hope if everything goes well. But it's not close.”