The return of Ferland Mendy to the Real Madrid first XI will have to wait with the defender having once again trained alone on Friday morning.

Things had looked positive earlier in the week for the French international, as he trained with the rest of his teammates for three successive days, yet Friday's session proved that he isn't yet in contention to return.

Mendy's last appearance came in the Champions League semi-final against Chelsea on May 3, and it was in that match he suffered a stress fracture in his tibia.

Various setbacks have followed as a result, mainly muscular ailments, and it seems that whenever Mendy gets close to a return he then has to take a few paces backwards.

As a result, Los Blancos will head into the domestic clash with Espanyol without any of Mendy, Marcelo or Dani Carvajal.

The full-back crisis has become a problem for Carlo Ancelotti and he may be forced to use Lucas Vazquez at right-back, which he as yet didn't appear keen to do. The emergence of Miguel Gutierrez has been one of the brighter aspects of this injury crisis and he is expected to keep his place in the team at left-back.

Some good news

One positive piece of news to come from Real Madrid's training session on Friday is that Toni Kroos is continuing to feel healthy and he trained with the team in full after making his first appearance of the season against Sheriff.

He was watched closely by the team's medical staff, but there have been no issues with his sports hernia and he is fit to play when selected.