Beckham eyes 11 September return

Beckham had not been expected to return until 1 October

Former England captain David Beckham hopes to play for the LA Galaxy against Columbus Crew on 11 September.

The 35-year-old, who is recovering from an Achilles tendon injury that he suffered while on loan at AC Milan, had been given a 1 October return date.

"I'll keep my fingers crossed and hopefully will play in part of the game against Columbus," said the midfielder.

"I'll be on the bench and hopefully I'll get on the field for 15-20 minutes," he told the Galaxy website.

The injury deprived Beckham, who has 115 England caps - more than any other outfield player - of a fourth World Cup final appearance.

PHIL MCNULTY BLOG Capello botched the David Beckham question badly. At first writing him off as a going England concern, before offering him a free final cap as a sop before insisting the door was still open. A mess.

Last month England coach Fabio Capello said Beckham's international career was over, though the Italian suggested on Thursday that the door was still open to the midfielder.

Beckham's last appearance for England was as a substitute in October 2009 in a 3-0 World Cup qualifying win against Belarus, but for now he is concentrating on his rehabilitation, which is proving hard work.

"At the moment, you have good days and you have bad days," said Beckham, who joined the LA Galaxy in 2007.

"You wake up with a lot more pain in your body when you're in pre-season. I have to do it because I need to get as close to match fitness as possible."

He added: "When you do go through a trauma like this, an injury like this, there's always going to be that thing in the back of your mind saying, 'The last time I did that motion was when it actually snapped'.

"Cutting and turning and pushing off is still difficult for me, but that's going to come in time."

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