Valencia could return by end of February

17 September 2010 10:31

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed Antonio Valencia could be back in action by the end of February.

The Manchester United winger was stretchered off on Tuesday during United's Champions League 0-0 draw with Rangers after suffering an horrific injury following an innocuous incident involving Kirk Broadfoot.

- Top five: Worst Premier League injuries / Valencia to miss rest of season

Initially, Ferguson said Valencia would miss the remainder of the campaign, but he said on Friday: "You can never be 100% accurate in these situations and it is a bad injury, but we are looking at the end of February, which is better than we thought on Tuesday."

Valencia had an operation on Wednesday evening to put his left ankle back into place after it was fractured and dislocated.

Ferguson revealed the Ecuador star had also suffered some ligament damage.

"The operation has been successful and the break was clean, which was the major concern for us at the time," he said.

"He is a strong boy, who is very positive about it.

"Being positive helps you in these situations, so we are very hopeful we will get him back then."

Source: PA