FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – Revolution defender Jay Heaps already can sense the Beckham buzz.

“It feels like a playoff game already,” Heaps said, looking ahead to the attention New England’s upcoming game against the Los Angeles Galaxy will attract. “It’s what every player dreams of.”

Beckham missed his scheduled Major League Soccer debut in Toronto on Sunday night because of a lingering an ankle injury, and the former England captain could make his first MLS appearance against the Revolution in one week.

Beckham, 32, signed a much-ballyhooed five-year, $32.5 million contract to leave Real Madrid and play for the Los Angeles Galaxy. But he injured his left ankle while playing for England against Estonia in a European Championship qualifier on June 6, then hurt it again during Real Madrid’s season finale June 17.

He has played just 16 minutes for the Galaxy, in a July 21 exhibition against England’s Chelsea.

Heaps said he watched the game against Chelsea and was eager for the chance to be on a big stage against one of the sport’s biggest stars. So there was no hesitation when asked whether he was hoping that Beckham would be available for Sunday’s game at Gillette Stadium.

“Heck yeah,” Heaps said. “I’m going to play on the field with him.”

Beckham said Saturday he cannot plant or turn without pain and is seven to 10 days from being able to start. The Galaxy have a game against D.C. United on Thursday before Sunday’s game at New England.

“It’s obviously creating a buzz and creating excitement,” Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis said of the possibility Beckham would debut against him. “But I can’t worry about that. He’s on another team and trying to help another team win games. I’d rather worry about the guys in this locker room and what we’re doing.”

The Revolution have sold all the seats they’re planning to sell for the Galaxy game, a total of 32,000 tickets for the lower bowl at Gillette Stadium plus the East club seats. It will be the team’s largest attendance for a regular-season game; the 2002 MLS Cup in Foxborough drew 61,316.

Coach Steve Nichol hoped the excitement would filter down to his players.

“It should,” he said Sunday night, fresh off an “awful” performance in a 3-0 loss to D.C. United. “If you can’t play in front of that, you’re in the wrong game. So motivation shouldn’t be a problem.”

AP-ES-08-05-07 2143EDT