Van der Vaart ready for Betis bow, backs Van Wolfswinkel

Rafael van der Vaart is ready to make his Real Betis debut after missing the first two La Liga matches with an ankle sprain.

The veteran midfielder joined Betis from Hamburg in June and could make his debut against Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Betis have yet to win this season, drawing 1-1 with Villarreal at home to begin the La Liga campaign before going down 5-0 away to Real Madrid.

“The injury is much better, it didn’t give me any problems in training this morning,” Van der Vaart said on Monday, according to AS.

“I feel ready to play.”

Van der Vaart was pleased with what he saw from his new team-mates against Villarreal and having not played a competitive match since helping Hamburg avoid relegation from the Bundesliga on June 1, the 32-year-old Dutchman is itching for competition.

Betis signed two Dutchmen in the close-season with Ricky van Wolfswinkel joining from Norwich City on loan.

The 26-year-old forward has struggled for goals the past two seasons, notching one in 25 Premier League matches in 2013-14 and five in 28 Ligue 1 games for Saint-Etienne on loan last term, but Van der Vaart has backed Van Wolfswinkel to succeed at the Benito Villamarin.

“He’s the typical Dutch striker, a very complete player,” the former Tottenham midfielder said.

“He’s going to score a lot of goals and he’s going to be happy he came here.”