Michael Carrick has fractured his elbow and will be unavailable for up to six weeks, Gary Neville is not expected to be named in the squad for tomorrow's match with Wigan and Owen Hargreaves is reportedly out for a further four weeks with tendonitis in his knee, although Sir Alex thinks he may be back sooner, "It may be a bit less. Owen should be back training in about ten days' time, which is good news because he hasn't had the best of luck. But, having the injection has been successful." This may see the England international available in time for the clash with Arsenal in December.
"It was a bad blow losing Michael Carrick," Fergie went on to say. "I went to shake his hand at the end of the game 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. That was the Michael Carrick of last season. I thought he had a slow start to the campaign, but he was gathering momentum again. He was superb against Chelsea, Birmingham and Roma.
"Fortunately, I've still got options. I can bring Ryan Giggs into midfield, or young Anderson, and John O'Shea can also play there. I'm not too bad, but nonetheless it's a blow."