Manchester United must make do without their attacking midfielder Shinji Kagawa for up to a month after the Japan international sustained a knee injury in midweek.
Kagawa, who was signed from
Borussia Dortmund in the summer, has made a promising start to his Barclays Premier League career, scoring twice in six appearances in the English top-flight.
However, the 23-year-old playmaker
will be sidelined for his side's visit to
undefeated Chelsea on Sunday and
has been ruled out for several
matches after twisting his knee during
the first half of Man United's 3-2 UEFA
Champions League victory against SC
Braga on Tuesday.
"Kagawa is out for three to four weeks
with a knee injury," said Sir Alex
Ferguson, the United manager, who
suggested in his press conference on
Friday that the player's attempt to run
the injury off may have exacerbated
the problem. "It's a knee injury similar
to the one Ashley Young had but not
as bad.
"I think playing on with the injury did
not help the situation for him, even
though he did well to play on with it.
It's disappointing for him."
Kagawa will therefore miss United's
Barclays Premier League encounters
against Arsenal and Aston Villa on 3
and 10 November respectively and is
doubtful for the subsequent trip to
Norwich City on 17 November.
With goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard
also ruled out for a week after
suffering a thumb injury in training,
the Red Devils have a number of
absentees to contend with, although
Ferguson did report that defender
Chris Smalling was back in training
following a broken metatarsal.
"That is a big bonus for us," he said.
"Phil Jones should start [training] a
week on Monday as well." Jones
suffered a knee injury in training last
month.
Lampard facing lay-off
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard
will miss at least two weeks with
the calf injury he picked up during
his side's UEFA Champions League
defeat at FC Shakhtar Donetsk on
Tuesday.
The 34-year-old midfielder had to be
substituted midway through the first
half as the European champions lost
2-1 to the Ukrainian side.
Blues manager Roberto Di Matteo
confirmed on Friday that Lampard
would be out for a "number of
weeks".
"He is going to be out for a few
weeks," Di Matteo rold the club's
official website. "He's got a calf
problem, so we will miss him and it's
a big loss for us."
The England international will
therefore will miss Sunday's Barclays
Premier League match against
Manchester United, the Capital One
Cup encounter against the same side
on Wednesday and the subsequent
trip to Swansea City on 3 November
No comments:
Post a Comment