Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson expects Chicharito to miss four weeks with torn ankle ligaments

Dec 3, 2011 8:24:00 PM

The Mexican striker had to be stretchered off within the first 10 minutes at Aston Villa after tripping awkwardly, but, that aside, the Red Devils boss was pleased with the result

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that striker Javier Hernandez is likely to miss up to four weeks with suspected torn ankle ligaments sustained after an awkward fall early on in the 1-0 win over Aston Villa.

Saturday’s Premier League fixture was not yet 10 minutes old when Chicharito tripped and fell, not having been touched by an opponent, which prompted his immediate withdrawal on a stretcher.

“I think it’s torn ligaments in the ankle, it’ll keep him out for maybe four weeks,” Ferguson toldESPN after the game.

“We’re having a bad time with injuries at the moment, so it’s just as well we have a strong squad.”

Hernandez joins fellow forwards Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen, who both missed the game at Villa Park, on the treatment table, but aside from the knock to his young poacher, Ferguson was pleased with the outcome of the match.

“I thought we deserved the victory,” the Scot declared.

“We had great possession at times. I feel we were a bit wasteful with the chances we had in the second half, but away from home at Villa Park is always a difficult place to go to. We’re happy with the result.”

Phil Jones scored the only goal of the game, meeting Nani’s cross after 20 minutes to register his first ever senior strike, and the Red Devils boss was impressed by the 19-year-old’s achievement.

He added: “It was a great move, a great cross from Nani, and a good finish by Phil. It’s his first for the club – I think it’s his first ever, actually – and it was a great time to score."

Asked for his thoughts on Jones’ best position, with the youngster having played in both midfield and defence during the game, Fthe Scot indicated that he still sees the ex-Blackburn man at the back in the long-term.

“Well, he’s an actual centre-back, but he’s so versatile, he can play in midfield,” he added.

“The reason we played him there is because we can’t have Michael Carrick for Wednesday [against Basel in the Champions League] as he’s suspended, so we have to look at options to replace him.

“I didn’t want to use Ryan Giggs today because of the importance of Wednesday, so we’ve got options in terms of where Phil can play.”


Source: http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2011/12/03/2786715/manchester-uniteds-sir-alex-ferguson-expects-chicharito-to