RYAN GIGGS has fractured his right arm and will be out of action for four weeks. The injury will rule the Welshman out of both legs of Manchester United’s Champions League last-16 tie against Milan and the English League Cup final against Aston Villa.
Giggs suffered the injury in United’s 1-1 draw at Villa Park on Wednesday night, in a collision with the Villa substitute Steve Sidwell. He left the stadium with his arm in a sling and in clear discomfort.
Alex Ferguson was optimistic the problem would not prove to be serious when he spoke immediately after the match, but an X-ray yesterday revealed the full extent of the damage. Giggs is unlikely to play until the middle of next month, at the earliest.
With Portuguese winger Nani suspended for the next three domestic fixtures after being sent off against Villa for a two-footed tackle on Stilian Petrov, Giggs’s injury has come at a bad time for United.
Both will miss Premier League games against Everton and West Ham, as well as the League Cup final, at Wembley on February 28th. Giggs will also be out of Tuesday’s trip to Milan and the return leg on March 10th, denying him the chance to line up against former team-mate David Beckham.
Although Giggs has started only half of United’s league matches this season, the 36-year-old is an immensely influential figure at Old Trafford and has been playing some of the best football of his career during the campaign. He has often been selected for key matches and Ferguson will hope that, providing Giggs recovers as anticipated, he will be back in time to feature in the Champions League quarter-finals, should United prevail against Milan, and also the Premier League match at home to Liverpool on March 21st.
The United manager will certainly be able to call on England captain Rio Ferdinand for the visit to San Siro, and there is a strong chance his other first-choice centre-back, Nemanja Vidic, who has yet to play this year because of a calf problem, will also be available.
United will have the rare luxury of going into that fixture without a domestic match at the weekend, because of their third-round FA Cup defeat by Leeds United last month.
“In terms of preparing for a European tie we are pleased to have a free weekend,” said Ferguson. “Milan are playing on Friday night. That is the kind of help European teams get from their countries. We don’t get that here. By fortune we don’t have a game on Saturday because we are out of the FA Cup and we are going to take full advantage of it. The players will have a couple of days off because they have worked hard and we will start again on Saturday.”
Petrov is rated as doubtful for Villa’s fifth-round FA Cup tie at Crystal Palace on Sunday, after injuring his ankle when Nani clattered into him.
Gabriel Agbonlahor could also miss out at Selhurst Park after missing training yesterday with a leg injury.
There was some good news for Villa, though, with Emile Heskey and Stephen Warnock making progress from groin and shin problems.
- Guardian Service
