Berbatov eyes goal-scoring record

Bulgaria striker Dimitar Berbatov hopes to break his country's goal-scoring record in Wednesday's friendly against Malta after recovering from a knee injury.

The Manchester United forward, who sustained the injury during his side's 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers earlier this month, had missed matches against CSKA Moscow and Chelsea.

"I received a kick in my knee during the Blackburn match and I needed some rest and some treatment but I'm okay now and I'll play in Malta," Berbatov told reporters.

The former Tottenham Hotspur striker scored a hat-trick in Bulgaria's emphatic 6-2 win over Georgia in a World Cup qualifier last month to take his tally to 46 international goals, one short of former captain Hristo Bonev's record.

"I'm thinking about it (the record), of course. I've scored many goals so far and I hope that with the help of my team mates I'll do it," Berbatov said.

Ronaldo expects to return to training this week

Meanwhile, Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo expects he will have recovered sufficiently from an ankle injury to be able to return to training by the middle of this week.

"The most important thing for me is to return when I am at 100 percent," the Portuguese international said in an interview published in Monday's As newspaper.

"Let's see what happens but around the middle of this week I am confident I will already be working with my team mates.

"This week I will have another test to see if I am fit but the recovery is well on track."

Ronaldo was injured in late September and aggravated the problem in Portugal's 3-0 win over Hungary 10 days later. He has not played since but could return for second-placed Real's La Liga match against Racing Santander on Saturday.