Bayern Munich coach Carlo Ancelotti has said the club's academy goalkeeping coordinator Tom Starke has come out of retirement again after Manuel Neuer's latest injury setback.
Neuer, 31, suffered a third foot fracture in six months on Monday and is likely to remain on the sidelines for the rest of the year after surgery.
"I spoke with him just now -- he's doing fine and the operation went well," Ancelotti told a news conference on Thursday.
"He'll come back in January, he needs some rest and after that we will prepare him for the second half of the season."
Ancelotti denied that Bayern had brought Neuer back into action too early, saying: "We made the decision together with the player, the training staff and the doctors.
"We wanted to take our time and be careful -- we thought he was ready."
Starke, 36, retired as a player at the end of last season after winning 13 trophies with the Bundesliga champions, becoming academy goalkeeping coordinator last month.
But he also returned to playing during Bayern's summer tour of China and Singapore, with Neuer recovering from a fracture and backup Sven Ulreich also sidelined.
Ancelotti said: "Tom is back with us because we worked with him last year and he did well.
"He's our third choice goalkeeper, and the second choice is Christian Fruchtl. Tom is very professional, and he will return to the academy when Manu comes back."
Following his side's win at Schalke on Tuesday, Ancelotti said there would be some changes for Friday's home game against Wolfsburg, adding: "Of course, the players that didn't play against Schalke will have more of a chance to play. I want to rotate."
Ancelotti said Arjen Robben was available after recovering from flu but David Alaba, Juan Bernat and Thiago would not play.
Both Thiago and Alaba are likely to return for next Wednesday's Champions League game at Paris Saint-Germain, but the coach stressed that Bayern were "solely focused on Wolfsburg."
James Rodriguez and Thomas Muller started together for the first time against Schalke, but Ancelotti said: "We haven't changed the system.
"We have played the same system with players with different characteristics."