Bothered by injury, Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham may miss the remaining games of the Major League Soccer regular season, his team said on Wednesday.

Beckham would not start in Thursday night's game against the New York Bulls -- a game the Galaxy must win or tie to keep its playoff hopes alive, his team said.

The Galaxy had hoped that Beckham could play at least a small role in Thursday's game, but that possibility seemed to have diminished.

"We're going to chat after training, so we'll see how he's doing and how he's feeling for tomorrow," Galaxy Coach Frank Yallop said.

"I'm not going to mess with the starting lineup. If he's available, he'll be one of the subs," he added.

Beckham's right knee appears to have healed, but his left ankle is still an obvious problem, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The former England captain has been sidelined for most of the three months he has been in the U.S., first with a left ankle injury sustained while playing for England in June and aggravated while helping Real Madrid win the Spanish championship.

He then sprained ligaments in his right knee on Aug. 29 in the Galaxy's SuperLiga final against Pachuca of Mexico and has not played since.

If the Galaxy gets at least one point against the Red Bulls, it will need to defeat the Fire in Chicago on Sunday to reach the playoffs.

Asked whether Beckham would travel to Chicago if the Galaxy no longer had a chance to make the playoffs, Alexi Lalas, the team's president and general manager, said the decision would not be made until after Thursday night's game.

(CRI October 18, 2007)