Ferguson Delivers Upbeat Prognosis on Hargreaves Recovery

Sir Alex Ferguson today revealed Owen Hargreaves could be back in action faster than he originally thought. The Manchester United midfielder was forced to have an injection to ease a tendinitis problem that has dogged him throughout the early stages of his Old Trafford career.

Ferguson stated on Tuesday night, in the aftermath of United's Champions League win over Roma, that Hargreaves would be missing for at least four weeks, ruling him out of England's Euro 2008 double-header with Estonia and Russia, plus a series of club games, including the trip to Dinamo Kyiv on October 23.

However, he now feels Hargreaves' return could be slightly more speedy. While this is not going to be of much use to the England coach Steve McClaren, Ferguson's need for a central midfielder is acute given Michael Carrick has been ruled out for six weeks with a fractured elbow.

"It may be a bit less than four weeks," admitted Ferguson. "Owen should be back training in about 10 days' time, which is good news because he hasn't had the best of luck. But, having the injection has been successful.

"Losing Michael Carrick was a bad blow. I went to shake his hand at the end of the game on Tuesday and he couldn't lift his arm. I knew he was in pain, so we sent him for an x-ray and it confirmed it was a broken arm. It's a blow especially as his last three performances have been spot on. I still have options. I can bring Ryan Giggs into midfield, or young Anderson, and John O'Shea can also play there, so I am not too bad."