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Hargreaves injury doubt for England games

29/08/2008

Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has been ruled out of this evening's Super Cup final and may also miss England's World Cup qualifiers next month.

The 27-year-old has tendinitis in his knee and, according to United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, "needs recovery time" to get back to full fitness.

Ferguson is keen to encourage England manager Fabio Capello not to pick Hargreaves in order to give him every opportunity of being available for his club after the international window.

However, Capello could still be allowed to select the player in order to have him independently assessed by the Football Association's medical staff.

And this course of action could be more likely given the revelation this week that fellow central midfielder Steven Gerrard will not play in order to undergo minor surgery on a groin strain.

"Anyone could play against Andorra. But Croatia is different - you need players who are 100 per cent," Ferguson explained.

"We sent Owen to the right specialist and he had the right treatment, so it is just a matter of him getting on with it now.

He added: "I think [the England matches] will be too early for him. He is not ready for that."