Zinedine Zidane rails against criticism of his Real Madrid selection policy 

Zinedine Zidane insists he doesn’t have an ‘A and B team’ at Real Madrid and that he ‘counts on everyone’ to deliver success.

It has been claimed that Zidane has a first choice XI that gets preferential treatment over the remainder of the squad in La Liga and Champions League fixtures.

But, speaking ahead of Saturday’s home league fixture with Real Betis, Zidane emphatically denied this.

The Real Madrid squad train ahead of Saturday evening’s match against Real Betis

‘I don’t have a ‘Plan A’ or a ‘Plan B’,’ he said when asked about his selections.

‘Every three days I have to leave out quality players. I count on everyone.

‘It’s something that bothers me a lot. I try to choose my best players, but I can change things.

‘I don’t like being told that I have an A, B or C team. It’s not true.’

Real, who are currently second in La Liga just one point behind Barcelona, will start as strong favourites against a Betis side currently in the lower reaches of the table.

Eden Hazard has scored just once for Real since his £90million summer move from Chelsea but Zidane is confident the Belgian will make an impact soon.

Zidane believes that £90m Eden Hazard will soon start delivering after just one goal so far

Zidane also confirmed that this Saturday’s match will come too soon for injured Gareth Bale

‘I don’t think he’s shy. He sees a lot of things that others don’t see so sometimes he passes instead of shooting,’ the manager said.

‘Everyone wants to see him score, but I’m seeing him play better every day.’

Meanwhile, Zidane confirmed that Gareth Bale is back in training and working hard to regain fitness following a calf injury.

‘He is here with us, he trains, he works hard. He is back from his trip,’ said Zidane.

‘He isn’t available yet but he is getting better.’