Woodgate to start comeback with Real Madrid youngsters

Real Madrid defender Jonathan Woodgate will have to start his comeback from a 16-month injury lay-off by playing alongside 14-year-old boys from the club's youth team set-up, says coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo.

Woodgate took part in the club's pre-season training camp in Austria but although he is reported to be nearing full fitness Luxemburgo says the England centre-back is still a long way from making his full Real Madrid debut.

"Woody will have to begin by playing alongside boys of 14 and 15-years-old who are weaker and not as tough," the Brazilian coach told reporters ahead of Real's testimonial match in honour of Hungarian striker Ferenc Puskas in Budapest.

"Then he can go on to play alongside the 16 and 17-year-olds and then with the reserves in the second division."

"He has to regain his confidence little by little and forget the injury he has suffered. He's not played for 14 or 15 months and that's a long time to be out of action."

"With only two weeks of full training with the first team behind him he can't play straight away. He's worked hard with the rest of his team mates, but he still has to work on other facets of the game and playing kick-abouts will help him a lot."

Woodgate tore a thigh muscle while playing for Newcastle United against Chelsea in April 2004 and has not played a competitive game since.

He joined Real last August for around 20 million euros ($24.95 million) but suffered a recurrence of the injury shortly before he was due to make his comeback in October.

"It is impossible to calculate when Woodgate will be able to play at the top level again," said Luxemburgo. "I'm not an oracle."

"I do have confidence that he will recover and we are going to give him the opportunity to play with us. We will let him tell us when he's ready and we will give him time to compete for a place with the other centre-backs and prove that he has recovered."

But Luxemburgo hinted that if the 25-year-old former Leeds United player failed to make a comeback he would have to discuss the possibility of signing a new defender with club president Florentino Perez.

Real Madrid vice-president Emilio Butragueno was more upbeat in his assessment of the player's prospects, saying earlier in the week that he expected Woodgate to become a key part of the squad this season.

"Woodgate is going to surprise a lot of people because he is going to become one of our most important recruits of the season," he said. "He has sacrificed a great deal and now is the time for him to get his reward."