Wayne Rooney hospitalized from nasty gash on leg and he's out four weeks

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney came on as a substitute in his side's 3-2 victory over Fulham FC. During it though, he sustained a nasty gash on his leg during stoppage time and the seriousness of it meant that he was sent to the hospital after the match. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson revealed afterward that Rooney may be out for quite some time:

"t's a very bad one. He's gone to hospital. Obviously it looks as he'll be out for maybe four weeks. I don't know what happened. I think the player must have followed through after he shot. He's got a bad one."

- Ferguson | Source: MUTV

If that time-frame holds up, that would mean Rooney would miss next week's away match with Southampton, England duty during the upcoming international break, and home to Wigan Athletic on September 15. Four weeks and one day from today though is the always anticipated trip to Anfield for a fierce clash with Liverpool FC.

Fortunately for United, this isn't the worst time to lose their star attacker for three simple reasons: (1) He hasn't been in great form anyway. (2) The fixture list is not congested at this point of the season and there's even an international break as previously mentioned. (3) Fergie has a plethora of attacking options right now and United should be just fine with new signings Shinji Kagawa as the No.10 and Robin van Persie as the No.9.