Roberto Carlos injury woe

Roberto Carlos injured his right foot on international duty with Brazil and looks set to miss the Merengues' next three matches.

The 28-year-old Real star was taken off 10 minutes before the end of his country's World Cup qualifier against Chile. He later received five stitches in the wound.

The news is a blow to Real coach Vicente Del Bosque, who will have to find a replacement for Roberto Carlos for Wednesday's Copa del Rey tie against Playas de Jandía, Saturday's league clash at Alavés and possibly next week's Champions League game against Roma.

Del Bosque is expected to give youth team hopeful Raúl Bravo another run out after the 20-year-old's impressive performance against Athletic Bilbao at the weekend.

Roberto Carlos has played down fears that the injury is likely to keep him out of action for long and that he had hoped to play on Wednesday.

He said: "If it was up to me then I'd play on Wednesday or at least at Alaves on Saturday."

"My foot doesn't hurt too much now but once I get back to Madrid we'll have a look at it to find out how long I'll be out of the game."

"Raúl Bravo has shown his quality when given the chance to figure in the first team."