He had been out since tearing a thigh muscle in a Premiership game against Chelsea on 25 April 2004 before starting his first competitive match for the Spanish club against Athletic Bilbao on 22 September this year. Real's £13.4m acquisition from Newcastle in August 2004 scored an own goal and was sent-off against Bilbao. But he has impressed since and also scored in a Champions League win over Rosenborg. Woodgate is now set to miss Real's match against arch-rivals Barcelona on 19 November while his England prospects will also be concerning him. The defender has played down his international prospects since returning to first-team action but will want to prove his fitness to Eriksson before next summer's World Cup finals.
Very very unlucky for Woodagte because he was just starting to settle in to the Real team. Last night I was fully expecting him to be picked in the England team but I was shocked when his name wasn't their but now I know that he was injured. Woodgate has really had a bad run of injuries in the past few years and I am starting to wonder will he ever be back to the player he used to be.
