Diego Costa is back on the training pitch and nearing a return

Atletico Madrid trained on Wednesday morning and they did so with Diego Costa on the pitch, with the striker nearing a recovery following his metatarsal operation in December.

At a slow and calm pace, he ran on the pitch to test out his foot.

"I want to see the footprint of a full step," the recovery coach Oscar Pitillas was heard saying to the player.

It'll still be some time before the centre-forward returns to action, while he isn't the only name on the injury list.

Stefan Savic, Filipe Luis, Koke, Saul and Vitolo are all out injured too, while Diego Godin and Lucas Hernandez did specific work on Wednesday as they try to return to full fitness.

There is no midweek game for Atletico Madrid due to their elimination from the Copa del Rey, which is good news for Diego Simeone as he barely has enough players to make one complete line-up.

Their next game isn't until Saturday, and there's a chance that Saul could have recovered by then.