Berbatov & Brown to miss Villa clash
Reuters - Thursday 20 November 2008, 17:26
MANCHESTER - Manchester United
striker Dimitar Berbatov will miss Saturday's Premier League
match at Aston Villa and Tuesday's Champions League game
at Villarreal with a hamstring injury sustained on
international duty with Bulgaria, manager Alex Ferguson
confirmed on Friday.
Defender Wes Brown faces four or five weeks out of action
after undergoing an exploratory operation on an ankle injury,
Ferguson also told reporters.
Berbatov was substituted after 30 minutes with cramp during
Bulgaria's 6-1 defeat by neighbours Serbia in a friendly on
Wednesday.
"It's not a tear. It's a slight strain but with hamstrings
you don't take any chances. There's no point in making it
worse," Ferguson said.
"He will certainly be out for tomorrow and he will be out
for Tuesday but there's a slight chance he may be available for
the City game."
United play derby rivals Manchester City on Sunday week but
first face a testing fixture against a Villa side which Ferguson
believes are capable of breaking the top-four stranglehold held
by United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.
Wayne Rooney, who missed England's 2-1 friendly win over
Germany on Wednesday after suffering a chest infection, is
likely to be fit to offset the loss of Berbatov for the trip to
Villa Park.
Rio Ferdinand may miss the game as he struggles to shake off
a back injury which kept him out of the Berlin international.
United have won 11 times in 12 visits to Villa Park and
Ferguson is keen to build on last Saturday's 5-0 win over Stoke
City which lifted them to third in the table.
"We recognise Aston Villa as an improving side and I think
(manager) Martin O'Neill has done a fantastic job so we expect a
really difficult challenge," said Ferguson.
"We got five goals last week and goal difference could be an
issue this year, you never know. This is why we have to push on
and start taking our chances regularly because the football we
are playing deserves more than we are getting at the moment."
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