clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Chicharito apparently out for a month

Getty Images

Javier Hernandez (Chicharito) was stretchered off in Manchester United's victory over Aston Villa after he tripped and fell in the early stages of the match. The Mexican striker suffered ligament damage in his ankle and it appears that he will be out for about a month. Here is what manager Sir Alex Ferguson had to say after the match in regards to the injury:

"I think it is torn ligaments in the ankle and he’ll be out for four weeks. We are having a bad time with injuries at the moment but that is why we have a strong squad."

Source: ManUtd.com

United are dealing with a plethora of injuries at the moment and they face quite the congested fixture list in December. This includes an upcoming midweek tie to Switzerland to face FC Basel in the UEFA Champions League -- a result is mandatory if the Reds want to avoid being shockingly knocked out of the competition at such an early stage. The club has reached the European final in three of the past four seasons.

Dimitar Berbatov sustained a knock in the past midweek versus Crystal Palace but his injury is not deemed serious. Another striker, Michael Owen, is anticipated to be out until around Christmas time due to his own injury. A bit of good news from the Villa match was the return of Danny Welbeck as a substitute. If the youngster is fit, he -- or possibly Berbabtov-- could be the partner for Wayne Rooney up front in Basel. The injury plague to the United strikers may offer an opportunity to Federico Macheda for more playing time in the coming weeks. There had been discussions by Fergie in the past week that the Italian striker may head out on loan in January. Here is some further discussion by Fergie today in regards to United's attack:

"Danny Welbeck is fit again and fortunately he got 15 minutes tonight which is good, so it is an option for Wednesday. He has not had a lot of football recently which is something I have to consider. But Nani did alright through the middle and Valencia did very well for us when he came on, he was excellent. So I have some options up front. We may have Berbatov fit for Wednesday also, but we are getting our fair share of injuries at the moment."