Manchester United injury update | Nemanja Vidic out for the season

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson just finished his weekly press conference ahead of tomorrow's Premier League tie with Wolverhampton Wanderers and the headline news is that captain Nemanja Vidic has been ruled out for remainder of the season. The center-back injured his knee during the midweek when FC Basel's Marco Strellar awkwardly came down on Vidic's knee after an aerial duel. Prior to this press conference, it had been speculated that Vidic ruptured a cruciate ligament after his agent revealed the news to calciomercato.com during an interview on Thursday. It is thought that the recovery period for such an injury requires nine months. Here is what Fergie had to say about Vida's injury at today's press conference:

"We thought it was a bad one. He’s out for the season. It’s not unexpected but it’s still bad news. He’ll see a specialist on Monday to work out the progress of when he has the operation. It won’t be immediate as we have to let the swelling come down."

Source: ManUtd.com

Fergie also provided an update on Dimitar Berbatov's injury and it appears that the striker is possible for tomorrow's match. Here is what he said about the Bulgarian:

"Berbatov may be available for tomorrow - we're hoping he trains today."

Anderson, Tom Cleverley, Michael Owen, Rafael, Fabio, and Javier Hernandez (Chicharito) have all been dealing with injuries as well. Fergie provided a brief update on these players:

"All the rest who are injured are still out. We hope the turn of the year brings all these players back like Cleverley and the Da silvas. They should be back by new year."

Quite obviously, Vida's injury is big blow to United. He is in the peak of his career and there is arguably no better defender in the world. The club is facing severe adversity in the moment and the loss of their captain and possibly their best player only adds to their woes.

United still have the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, and Jonny Evans available at center-back and on the surface, that appears to be tremendous cover. However, Ferdinand is always a fitness concern at this stage of his career and with the frequent injury to the da Silva twins -- Rafael and Fabio -- both Jones and Smalling are also asked to regularly play right-back. When considering this context, the Reds may not be as equipped to deal with this injury as some may assume.