Ronaldo needs to take it slowly: Inter coach

Ronaldo needs more time before he can play a full part for Inter Milan after spending most of the last two years out through injury, his coach Hector Cuper said on Thursday.

"To play from the start he needs minutes and minutes and minutes," Cuper said. "The idea is that all those minutes need to be effective".

The double World Player of the Year made a low-key 20-minute second-half substitute appearance as Inter drew 2-2 at home to Udinese in the Italian Cup second round on Thursday, a result that put Udinese through to the quarter-finals 4-3 on aggregate.

The Brazilian also played for 18 minutes of Inter's 2-0 league win over Fiorentina on Sunday.

Udinese coach Roy Hodgson, who managed Ronaldo during his spell with Inter, said the 25-year-old clearly needed more matches to gauge his progress.

"His passes and his control were fine but he needs more games," Englishman Hodgson told reporters, "It is not easy coming on for the last 20 minutes. The most important thing is that he is on the pitch".

Ronaldo is hoping to get back to full strength to play in next year's World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan.