Manchester United winger Ashley Young has been ruled out for two to three weeks with a 'bruised cartilage', Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed. Manchester United will be without Ashley Young for a further two to three weeks because of bruised cartilage on his knee. The 27-year-old missed out on the England squad for the World Cup 2014 qualifying double-header against Moldova and Ukraine earlier this month, and Ferguson now expects to be without the player until October. Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed the England forward, 27, who has not played since August, would not be rushed back.
Ferguson said: "We're taking our time. You can easily play with it and train but we're not going down that road, we want to make sure he's okay." Ferguson confirmed the problem at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's game against Liverpool. The United boss also said midfielder Darren Fletcher would play from the start in Wednesday night's Capital One Cup tie at home to Newcastle.
Wayne Rooney should be fit to play next week, the United manager added. Young suffered the injury against Fulham last month, and Ferguson's prognosis would keep the United man out until after the next international break, meaning he will miss England's World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Poland.
It was suggested earlier this week that Rooney was set to make a rapid return, either in Wednesday's Champions League tie with Galatasaray or this weekend's encounter with Liverpool at Anfield.
Rooney was not involved in midweek and Ferguson has confirmed Sunday is not a possibility either.
The England striker has not featured for United since suffering a gash on his right thigh after coming on as a substitute during a 3-2 victory over Fulham on 25 August.
"He's not far away. I think he may be fine for next week," said Ferguson.
"He's doing a lot of great training and has been working hard. It's just a matter of getting him into the full football training side of things, which he has been part of."
The Scotland international came on as a substitute in the 1-0 Champions League win over Galatasaray in midweek, his first competitive outing since last November. The player has an inflammatory bowel condition. Ferguson later confirmed Young's cartilage problem was a knee injury.
Young has also not played since the victory over Fulham but he was not expected to return to action as quickly as team-mate Rooney.
Ferguson said: "We get a lot of experiences these days of these injuries re-occurring when they come back too quickly and we don't want that with the players. We want to give them a full recovery.
"He should be okay in two or three weeks' time."
Ferguson revealed Darren Fletcher, who came on as substitute in the 1-0 Champions League victory over Galatasaray, is expected to start Wednesday's Capital One Cup tie against Newcastle.
However, with a Capital One Cup tie against Newcastle looming on Wednesday, followed by an eye-catching Old Trafford meeting with Tottenham next Saturday, Rooney's absence will not continue for too much longer.
"I know there were reports about Rooney being a possible, but that is not the case," said Ferguson.
"He is not far away. He's doing a lot of great training and has been working hard.
"It's just a matter of getting him into the full football training side of things which he has done part of.
"I think he may be fine for next week."
One man who will definitely feature against Newcastle is Darren Fletcher.
After 10 months out the Scotland skipper finally made his reappearance on Wednesday.
Although Ferguson previously wondered whether Fletcher would ever fully recover from his chronic bowel complaint, progress has been encouraging.
The United boss felt confident enough in Fletcher to hand him an 11-minute run-out against Galatasaray, and next will be a start in the Capital One Cup third-round tie against Alan Pardew's outfit at Old Trafford.
"He made a start on Wednesday which was great and he will certainly play against Newcastle," said Ferguson.
"That is a perfect game for him to start back.
"Then we have the game against Tottenham next Saturday and he possibly could be involved in that, depending on how he does on Wednesday.
"It'll be his first full 90 minutes after 10 months out so it'll be a big night for him."
Ferguson knows Fletcher will never be rid of the condition.
However, the 28-year-old is managing it in a positive manner.
"He's handling the conditions at the moment and he looks fine as we saw the other night," he said.
"It's a matter of hoping the condition stays dormant.
"He's handling his diet well and doing all the right things so hopefully he gets that break he needs."
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