Vidic blow for United

07 August 2009 10:26
Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic will miss the start of the new Premier League season due to a calf injury. Vidic has been struggling with the problem during pre-season and is expected to be sidelined for up to another fortnight. The Serbia international will now sit out Sunday's Community Shield clash with Chelsea at Wembley and the following week's season opener at home to promoted Birmingham City. Fellow defenders Wes Brown and Gary Neville are also sidelined, while United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admits it will be at least eight weeks before veteran keeper Edwin van der Sar recovers from a broken finger. "Everyone is fit apart from Wes, Vidic and Neville," said Ferguson. "Gary has done a bit of training, and he is coming along fine. And I expect Wes to be fit for the Birmingham match. "Vidic is another week or two away and Edwin's injury is a bad one. He's out for 8-10 weeks, of course. So my first selection dilemma for Sunday is in goal." Ferguson also confirmed that he will be treating the game with Chelsea, live on Sky Sports 2 & HD2, seriously and will not be using the fixture as an opportunity to work on his players' fitness. He added: "In the past I've treated the Community Shield as a barometer for fitness and giving players some minutes on the clock. But this year I'm not looking at it like that. "All the players are at a good level fitness-wise and everyone should be able to give a good account of themselves. And when you play Chelsea, pride comes into it and the players want to win."

Source: SKY_Sports