Rafael van der Vaart is confident of recovering from an ankle injury in time to play in the Netherlands' World Cup opener against Serbia & Montenegro on June 11.

The Hamburg midfielder sat out last weekend's friendly against Cameroon after having a pin removed from the joint following surgery earlier in the season.

He returned to training on Monday but picked up a new injury to the same ankle after being struck by the ball.

The Dutch medical team believe the new problem is not related to the existing one and have told Van der Vaart that a few days' rest is all that is needed for the injury to heal.

"I need to rest in the next two or three days," he said. "Nothing is really damaged so I have no doubt I will be fit soon."

The 23-year-old will definitely miss Thursday's World Cup warm-up match against Mexico, but hopes to be in contention for selection for the Oranje's final pre-tournament friendly against Australia on Sunday.