Pepe Doubtful For Madrid derby

Real Madrid returned to training today minus Pepe, who is still struggling for fitness ahead of the big weekend derby clash with Atletico Madrid.

Pepe has once again joined the injury list at Real Madrid.

The Portuguese defender picked up a knock against Mallorca in the ill-fated Copa adventure and remains a major doubt to meet Atletico Madrid at the weekend.

With Gabriel Heinze and Christoph Metzelder also sidelined, it may be a makeshift back-line that faces the rojiblancos.

Elsewhere, Javier Saviola has picked up knee ligament damage that will keep him out, although he was not scheduled to start in any case.

Arjen Robben, Javier Balboa and Roberto Soldado trained apart today due to their respective injuries, while the majority of the players who took part in the Mallorca game endured a light recovery session.

Gonzalo Higuain was the only one who played last night to carry out a full day's training, and the young Argentine is now in contention to start.