Wes Brown has urged Manchester United team-mate Gabriel Heinze not to rush his comeback from cruciate ligament surgery.
Heinze is desperate to play for Argentina at the World Cup and says he could return within a month from the injury he suffered during United’s Champions League draw with Villarreal in September.
Brown has more experience than most of what is required to recover from major knee surgery, having had similar operations on both knees during an injury-plagued career.
"When I spoke to Gaby I told him he would be all right and also to listen to what the doctors and physios tell him and not to rush it," Brown said.
"That is the main thing you have to avoid - rushing back. After two or three weeks, you feel normal, you are walking normally and you feel like you should be ready to do everything.
"It does your head in but you have to be patient and take it slowly."
Brown, who is hoping to retain his starting berth in central defence for this weekend’s Carling Cup final, believes Heinze could do worse than follow the example of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Norwegian striker Solskjaer has battled through two years of injury agony to finally break back into United’s first-team squad again and Brown says his recovery as inspirational.
"Ole would be one of the first in and when everyone had gone, he would still be in the gym," Brown said.
"He worked so hard to get where he is now. I was like the fans. I could not wait until he had pulled on that shirt again."
PA
