• Premier League

Injury nightmare could end Ferdinand's season

ESPN staff
March 17, 2011
Rio Ferdinand has impressed when he has played this season but his number of appearances have been limited by injuries © PA Photos
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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that injury-plagued defender Rio Ferdinand could miss the rest of the season because of an ongoing calf problem.

Ferdinand, 32, has been struggling with a back complaint throughout the campaign, but a calf injury picked up in the warm-up prior to the loss at Wolves in early February has meant he has been unable to help United in their quest for the Treble.

Last weekend, Ferguson confidently predicted that Ferdinand would be available for the league clash at West Ham. However, with the centre back still hampered by the calf strain, United manager Ferguson is resigned to losing one of his most experienced players for the remainder of the season.

"Rio has been out for a few weeks now," said Ferguson. "We are not looking at this as a short-term situation. He has not started training yet. We will be lucky to get him back for some part of the season."

The news will come as a huge blow to United as they chase the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup with a severely depleted defence. Short on numbers at the back, Ferguson admits the looming international break is coming at a good time for the club.

"Hopefully Jonny Evans may be fit [to face Bolton]," he said. "It's a bit of a risk, he's trained all week which is good but he's been out for such a long time. Rio and [Nemanja] Vidic won't make it. [John] O'Shea has a hamstring strain and could be out for five weeks, it's not a good one. Rafael is not so bad, he could be missing for two or three weeks and we've got an international break which may help us there. It may give us a chance to get a few patched up and me might be in better shape by the time we get to the West Ham game.

"Darren Fletcher's got this virus; Anderson's doing alright running wise, he's getting close. Owen Hargreaves has trained this week which is good news, so there are some positive things."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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