Los Merengues have lost the midfield trio of Fernando Gago, Guti and Wesley Sneijder all to injuries, but Schuster confirmed that his substitutes can do the job.

"I'm not happy with all the injuries but I've faith that the substitutes can do well. De La Red is a young player and can perform as good as Mohamadou Diarra," Schuster told Real's official website on Tuesday.

"Van Der Vaart is very similar to both Guti and Sneijder. He is the player we need at the moment, and we definitely noticed his presence against Racing."

Schuster has been recently counting on striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy to single handedly score for Real, and many fear the 34-year-old won't have the stamina to start all Real's games.

"When Ruud is on form, he is just like Raul. He wants to play as many games as possible. It's hard to convince him to rest."

"But the Zenit match is crucial so I have to think about giving him time off before it," concluded the German tactician.

Both Van Der Vaart and De La Red are expected to start for Real against Sporting Gijon in the league on September 24th.