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Fergie: Rio still four weeks away

15 Aug 2010 - 15:49:45

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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson believes Rio Ferdinand is still a month away from returning to first-team action.

Ferdinand is currently recovering from the knee ligament injury which forced him to miss the World Cup finals.

The 31-year-old defender was injured on the eve of the tournament in South Africa.

Initial injury assessments suggested Ferdinand could be fit for the start of the new Premier League season.

However, speaking ahead of Monday's opener against Newcastle United, Ferguson has revealed that the injury-plagued central defender is still four weeks away from making his latest comeback.

"Rio is nowhere near. He's doing little bits of jogging and things like that but I think he's a month away," he explained.

"We always anticipated it would take time. It's a knee ligament and, although it wasn't what you'd call a serious one, it was a hard one. You have to take time with knee ligaments.

"Rio has had a bad 12 months and we hope it gets better for him.

"You hope the break over the summer with missing the World Cup will help him.

"The back injury seemed to sort itself out as the season went on, then he had the groin injury.

"He's had a succession of these things and you don't want to see that when a player is in his thirties."