Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane confirms James Rodriguez injury setback ahead of Celta Vigo decider

Real Madrid star James Rodriguez will be out of action for a longer spell after suffering a setback in his recovery from a muscle injury. The Colombia international was set to return to action in the Copa Del Rey quarter-final decider at Celta Vigo on Wednesday night (25 January) but manager Zinedine Zidane has now revealed he has returned to the busy treatment table alongside Luka Modric, Marcelo, Dani Carvajal, Pepe and Gareth Bale.

James had been expected to play a big role in the busy month of January after starting the year in scintillating form scoring a brace in the 3-0 Copa del Rey victory over Sevilla. However, James has missed the last four games due to injury and is yet to feature since the 5-0 victory over Granada on 7 January.

Real Madrid then failed to pencil a date for his expected recovery but on Friday (20 January) Zidane revealed that the former Monaco star should be back in training this week in order to help his side in the crucial clash with Celta – as Los Blancos visit Eduardo Berizzo's side with a 2-1 deficit from the reverse fixture played last week at the Santiago Bernabeu.

"James still has a few problems, but hopefully he will be back with us by Monday," the Real Madrid boss confirmed in the press conference before the weekend victory over Malaga. "We have had to deal with a lot of injuries from knocks, but no real muscle injuries. I hope James can return to the fold on Monday. The doctors and physios are doing great work with the players who are still injured."

Zidane has however revised his prognosis revealing James will be out of action for a longer duration after suffering an 'overload' in the other leg.

"James has a problem in the other leg. It's an overload not an injury and that's the good thing," Zidane said in the press conference ahead of the trip to Vigo. "When you have an injury on one side sometimes this happens in the other. I had said that on Monday he would be with us and at the end it is not like that. He is not happy because he wants to be with us but I hope it will be a small thing. Because it's a bit overworked."

The news comes only a day after Real Madrid revealed that Luka Modric and Marcelo were also set to miss the Copa Del Rey quarter-final decider after suffering muscle injuries in the weekend win over Malaga, with the left-back expected to be out for up to a month.

Dani Carvajal will also be absent in the coming weeks after suffering a grade-two injury to his right biceps femoris last week while long-term absentees Pepe and Gareth Bale also remain on the sidelines for the game. Meanwhile, Zidane confirmed Fabio Coentrao will return to the squad after participating in training.