LOS ANGELES - David Beckham is not ready to return to the international fray despite resuming light training on Wednesday, according to Los Angeles Galaxy coach Frank Yallop.
Yallop was delighted to see the England midfielder take his first training session since injuring his knee in the SuperLiga final loss to Pachuca on August 29, but warned that Beckham still has much to do before he is ready.
"He's not even played any competitive games," Yallop told PA Sport. "Obviously, it's not my decision to pick (the England) team but it would be very difficult for him to be ready."
Beckham himself sounded cautious about rushing his return.
"I wasn't meant to be training, but once I was out there it felt good," he said on the Galaxy's official website. "It went well but we'll just have to see how it is this. I'm still restricted on many things but overall it felt great."
Yallop added: "He's been doing light work by himself for 5-6 weeks, but we had a real light training session yesterday,"
"It was good to see him out there with the rest of the team, and it was good to see him with a smile on his face."
It had been expected that the injury would keep him out for 10 weeks - the rest of the MLS season - but Beckham has said he is determined to make it back before the end of the campaign. Yallop is not yet ready to put a timetable on Beckham's return.
"We need to see how he feels and just take it slowly," he said. "He's not done anything with the team, its just nice to have him back out there."
Beckham's appearance in training came just a day after Beckham return to California from London, where he visited his ill father, Ted, over the weekend.
In Beckham's absence, the Galaxy have won three games in a row in MLS action, putting themselves back on the fringes of the play-off picture.
They are six points behind Chicago with a game in hand in the race for the final berth. The Galaxy have four regular-season games remaining, concluding their campaign away to Chicago on October 21 in what could be the decisive game.
The turnaround has come even though Yallop continues to battle a lengthy injury list which extends far beyond the absence of Beckham. The difference, according to Yallop, is that the injury list has not changed much of late.
"It's difficult when you don't have the same line-up from game to game," he said. "Those we've had have played together for a while, you get a team you can work with. The back four, for a while, it just changed every game, but now we've had the same back four, the same line up."
The Galaxy next face Houston on Sunday, a game Yallop believes is crucial.
"It's a big game," he said. "If we win that, we've got a real chance."
Earlier this week, Beckham was the subject of fresh speculation linking him with a loan move to England - with Sunderland the latest club to be named as a possible destination.
The Galaxy have consistently denied that Beckham is going anywhere, a message that has not changed.
"You just get used to it," Yallop said of the constant speculation. "The truth is that until the club tells me differently he is Galaxy player for the next four years."
