Sir Alex Ferguson is crossing his fingers that Michael Owen's thigh injury is not too serious.
Handed a rare start in Manchester United's 2-0 Champions League win over Otelul Galati at Old Trafford on Tuesday night, Owen was involved in the build-up to Antonio Valencia's eighth-minute opener.
However, in making a run to the near post, Owen suffered a thigh injury which convinced the former England man immediately that he would not be able to continue. "It is unfortunate for Michael Owen," Ferguson told MUTV.
Owen was eventually replaced by Javier Hernandez and expressed his own frustrations on Twitter after the match. Now in his third season at United, Owen was making his 52nd appearance, almost two-thirds of which have been as a substitute.
However, he has been blighted by fitness problems since injuring his hamstring during a goalscoring appearance in the 2010 Carling Cup final and now there are fears over how long Owen will be sidelined for once more.
Ferguson added: "He made the first goal with a fantastic run to pull the defenders towards him.
"He allowed the ball to be tapped in easily by Antonio. Unfortunately we have lost him to a thigh injury.
"It is a different type of injury to the ones he has had in the past.
"We hope it is not too long because he is such a really good player."
Source: PA
