Luka Modric and Real Madrid injured trio miss training two days before Atletico derby

Luka Modric has handed Real Madrid fans a new concern ahead of the trip to Atletico Madrid on Saturday (18 November) with the Croatian international unable to train with the rest of his teammates during the Thursday's workout.

Meanwhile, Keylor Navas, Luca Zidane and Gareth Bale are all expected to miss the local derby as the injured trio continue with their respective recoveries on their own just two days before the visit to the new Wanda Metropolitano.

Modric played both legs of the recent World Cup play-off between Croatia and Greece, helping his national team to book a place in Russia 2018 with a 4-1 aggregate win.

On Wednesday Real Madrid informed that the midfielder returned to training with the rest of his available teammates to begun preparations for the clash with Atletico.

However, the Croatian international missed the Thursday's workout, with Zidane instead welcoming back the rest of the international players who were still away with their respective national teams.

"The team have completed the fourth training session of the week over at Real Madrid City and continue their preparations for the derby, which will be played this Saturday at the Wanda Metropolitano (8:45pm CET). Zidane welcomed back the last wave of players who were away on international duty," the club confirmed on its official website.

"Varane, Marcelo, Casemiro, Vallejo, Ceballos, Mayoral, Kroos, Ramos, Nacho and Asensio all trained out on the pitch. Kovacic completed the entire session along with the group and Modric trained using the indoor facilities."

Real Madrid have not disclosed the reasons behind Modric's absence from the workout but the news is a fresh concern for Zinedine Zidane only two days before the highly-awaited derby.

Nevertheless, Los Blancos cannot afford to drop more points following a disappointing start to the season which has seen them fall eight points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona in the table after only 11 games.

Meanwhile, the visit to the Wanda Metropolitano is expected to come too early for Navas, Luca and Bale as the trio are yet to re-join the group.

"Ball work was the main focus as the Madridistas worked on passing and pressing, crossing and shooting, before playing matches on a reduced size pitch. Bale, Luca and Keylor Navas continued with their recovery processes. The Costa Rican started the session along with the Casilla players and Moha, the Under-19s goalkeeper, before training alone later on," Real Madrid added.

This way Kiko Casilla should remain between the sticks to cover Navas with Isco tipped to lead the attack alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in the Bale's absence.