Tuesday Sep 18 2007 09:41
Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves will not be fit enough to play in Wednesday's Champions League clash against Sporting Lisbon.
The 26-year-old former Bayern Munich star has not recovered from the thigh strain that forced him to miss England's recent Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Russia.
He also failed to feature in Saturday's Premier League win at Everton and thought he would be struggling to make the trip to Portugal when he missed training on Monday.
Hargreaves said at the time: "I've never really had this injury before so this is new territory.
"I can't say for certain but it looks as though I won't be ready for Wednesday because I haven't trained.
"I thought I'd be fit to play for England in the Israel game, then the Russia game and then Everton, but I've still not done it.
"I have to take it day by day so hopefully I'll be fit for the weekend.
"It's frustrating. I missed pre-season, then I had a run of games and I was really enjoying it.
"It's just disappointing to suffer something so niggly. But I think these injuries come from last season when I broke my leg."
John O'Shea, Darren Fletcher (both knee), Park Ji Sung and Ben Foster (ligament problems) also miss out while Mikael Silvestre has been ruled out for the rest of the season after rupturing cruciate ligaments on Saturday.
In addition, right-back Gary Neville is still short of full fitness after a calf strain.
In better news for United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, Wayne Rooney returns to the squad for the first time after fracturing his foot in the opening game of the season against Reading.
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