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More time out for Rio
Manchester United, 12:57, July 25, 2010 ,
Manchester United won't be able to call on the services of Rio Ferdinand until September at the earliest because of his knee injury.
The defender suffered ligament damage while in pre-World Cup training with England on June 4, and had to be withdrawn from the squad he had been chosen to captain.
United had initially hoped he would be back in time for their season opener against Newcastle on August 16th, but manager Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that estimate is wide of the mark.
The Scot told his club's official website www.manutd.com: "Rio is probably around six weeks away from playing."
That diagnosis would also make him a major doubt for England's first two Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland on September 3 and 7 respectively.
Meanwhile, Gary Neville is back in full training after a calf injury, along with Antonio Valencia but Michael Owen, Anderson and Owen Hargreaves all remain sidelined.
Owen is nursing a hamstring problem, A late September return is predicted for the Brazilian while Hargreaves is in the United States having treatment after a recurrence of tendinitis.