Carrick Injury Blow

Michael Carrick has been ruled out for up to six weeks after fracturing his elbow during the Champions League game against AS Roma on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old picked up the injury in the latter stages of the match, and although he completed the full 90 minutes of United's 1-0 win over the Italians, an x-ray later revealed the full extent of the damage.

A club spokesperson told ManUtd.com: "Michael has sustained a fractured right elbow and will be out for up to six weeks."

News of Carrick's enforced spell on the sidelines comes as a major blow to Sir Alex Ferguson, who earlier this week gave the go-ahead for Owen Hargreaves to have an injection for the tendonitis problem in his knee, which will keep the former Bayern Munich midfielder out for a month.

Darren Fletcher, another potential replacement for Carrick, suffered a minor fracture to his leg on Scotland duty against France last month, and will also be out for much of October.

Sir Alex may now call on Ryan Giggs, Brazilian new-boy Anderson, or John O'Shea to partner Paul Scholes in the centre of the Reds' midfield for Saturday's kick-off against Wigan Athletic.

Also on the sidelines

Edwin van der Sar (toe)
Darren Fletcher (leg)
Owen Hargreaves (knee)
Ji-sung Park (knee)
Ben Foster (knee)
Mikael Silvestre (knee)