Belgium coach Martinez defends injury-plagued Hazard

Belgium coach Roberto Martinez has jumped to the defence of Eden Hazard over his injury woes at Real Madrid.

Real Madrid have yet to see the best of Hazard since his arrival as repeated injury problems have prevented him from ever establishing himself in Zinedine Zidane’s team.

“Hazard is desperate to play again,” Martinez explained in a press conference on Friday.

“I think Eden is calm in all situations, but at this moment he is desperate to be on the pitch.

“When you are a player who can’t get on the pitch, you will feel strange.”

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Even though Hazard has always been a target for poor challenges throughout his career, Martinez was eager to point out that this was the first time the forward has been absent for so long.

“It’s hard when you’ve been playing for 12 or 13 seasons at 90 minutes and suddenly you can’t do what you’ve always done,” he added.

“It’s kind of a shock, but Eden is in a good mood whenever I see him.

“He’s desperate to work on his return for Real Madrid.”