GALAXY NOTEBOOK: DONOVAN EAGER TO START TRAINING.

Byline: PHIL COLLIN

Staff Writer

He wasn't due to arrive until Thursday, but Landon Donovan just couldn't wait to get on the field with his Galaxy teammates on Tuesday.

Donovan, who had spent the previous five weeks with the U.S. National Team, went through drills with the team in the morning and played in a game situation in the afternoon.

"It's nice just to see some faces get back on the field, and see a lot of new faces," said the 24-year-old Donovan, who clearly had the edge on his teammates in terms of conditioning. "I've played two games now to their none. I'm going to be ahead of them. It's a good feeling for me, because you're pretty much fully fit and you're not tired from being the end of the year yet."

It wasn't a surprise to Galaxy coach Frank Yallop that his star made an early return.

"I know Landon pretty well now, and he gets itchy feet if he's not around the game," Yallop said. "And he wants to get back and see his buddies."

Forward Nate Jaqua also ran with the team after his U.S. team stint.

Goalkeeper Joe Cannon and defender Chris Albright are still expected to make their preseason camp debuts on Thursday, although now they might be feeling a little pressure from Donovan.

"I'll give 'em crap," Donovan said, laughing, "but this was my choice. I was thinking about coming in (today), then I realized it was Valentine's Day so I asked Frank if I could come in (Tuesday) and take (today) off, which is nice."

Cutting edge: The Galaxy just began their second week of camp and don't have to make roster moves until March 1, but Yallop said he's already close to knowing how his roster will shape up.

"I've got a pretty good idea already what guys we're definitely going to keep, ones we're going to maybe slide into the developmental side of things, or even let go," Yallop said. "We'll figure that out in the next week or so.

"I don't want to keep guys hanging on when I kind of think I know now."

Schedule update: The Galaxy will begin its preseason schedule in Bermuda with a Feb. 22 game against the New England Revolution. It will play again the next day against a Bermuda All-Star Select team.

The team also announced two other preseason matches -- on March 10 against the Fresno Fuego of the PDL in Fresno and on March 18 against the Columbus Crew at Cougar Stadium in Santa Clarita.

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