Steven Gerrard believes he will be back in action within the next two months despite fears he could be sidelined until Christmas.
The Liverpool captain fractured a metatarsal bone in his foot in the 2-1 defeat by Manchester United on Monday night. Similar injuries to other players have seen them ruled out for around four months, but Gerrard remains positive - even though he will definitely miss England's World Cup qualifying matches against Wales and Azerbaijan next month.
"As far as I'm concerned, this injury will keep me out for two months," he said. "I spoke to the surgeon and he told me it should be eight weeks."
David Beckham has described the injury of Gerrard as a "massive blow" for England in the run-up to their World Cup qualifier against Wales on October 9th.
"It's a massive blow because he is an important player for England," Beckham said. "I think he knows he can't rush back from an injury like this, especially with it being the fifth metatarsal.
"That's the injury Gary Neville had and he came back too quickly and ended up having to have more time off."
Gerrard yesterday said that fears he would be out until Christmas were premature.
"I know people are comparing my injury to others who've had a similar knock. I don't think mine's as bad. In fact, I'm hoping I could get back earlier than people think, but I don't want to set targets too early," the Liverpool captain said.
Gerrard's enforced absence from England's World Cup qualifiers in October may offer Beckham the chance of a much-coveted central role in midfield. But despite a broad smile, he would not be drawn on tactical questions.
The England captain said he was pleased about Sven-Goran Eriksson's indication that he had not been approached about the Real Madrid job. "He has shown his commitment to the country," Beckham said, "that's what people want and it's what the players want."
Eriksson, Beckham and Michael Owen could be united at the Bernabeu before long, however, should Real's stadium get the go-ahead to host the friendly between Spain and England on November 17th.
Meanwhile, the West Bromwich Albion manager Gary Megson is understood to have two matches left to save his job following defeat by Colchester United in the League Cup on Tuesday night.
Jeremy Peace, the club's chairman, has been keen to replace Megson for some time now - his desire increasing as the relationship with his manager has deteriorated. The pair have been at loggerheads for more than 18 months with both parties having lengthy lists of grievances.
Despite being given £10 million to spend on new players following the club's promotion to the Premiership in May, Megson became increasingly frustrated by the time it took Peace to complete signings.
The delays are understood to have been aggravated by Peace's refusal to involve agents, with the hold-ups hindering Megson's pre-season planning.
Megson, who no longer uses his office at The Hawthorns and prefers to operate from the training ground, is also disgruntled that no moves have been made to extend his contract, which expires next summer.
Peace, on the other hand, is unhappy with Megson's man-management. He is also in agreement with his predecessor Paul Thompson that Megson's scouting system is inefficient. Ironically, it was a fall-out between Megson and Thompson that allowed Peace to take control two years ago.
Megson, who had then just guided West Brom to the Premiership for the first time, had the support of the fans, as he had in repeating the feat last season. As a result Peace has held back from replacing his manager but West Brom's failure to win for 10 games, culminating in the defeat at Layer Road, has strengthened his case for change.
He is not prepared to allow West Brom to slip back into the Football League, especially after investing so heavily in the team, and views next month's fixtures against the other promoted clubs, Crystal Palace and Norwich City, as crucial to his team's survival. Those games follow Saturday's trip to Newcastle United and a visit from Bolton Wanderers the following week.
The word inside The Hawthorns is that anything less than a three-point return will see Peace using the international break that follows the Bolton game to find a new manager.
Nicky Butt will discover today how many European matches he will be banned from for his sending-off during Newcastle's UEFA Cup game against Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin. UEFA's control and disciplinary body could increase the midfielder's automatic one-game suspension to two or three matches.
