Deportivo La Coruna defender Joan Capdevila is on standby to replace ankle-injury victim Asier del Horno in Spain's World Cup squad.

The Chelsea left-back picked up the injury during a training game on Wednesday and will learn next week whether he will recover in time to feature at Germany 2006.

However, initial medical reports were not optimistic and Capdevila is ready to step in.

"If the national coach Luis Aragones calls me up on Monday, I will go," said Capdevila.

"However, my wish is that Asier recovers and goes to Germany.

"I would be a bad team-mate if I was happy. I wouldn't want to go to a World Cup because a colleague of mine is injured."

The situation is a familiar one for Capdevila who replaced the injured Michel Salgado in Spain's Euro 2004 squad.