Owen Hargreaves has been ruled out of England’s European Championship qualifiers against Estonia and Russia this month because of a knee injury.
The Manchester United midfielder will be out for the next month after having an injection to cure a tendonitis problem.
“That was an option we had from the very start if it surfaced again,” said Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
“He felt it in training so we decided to do something immediately.”
The news is a blow to England coach Steve McClaren who also hass concerns over captain John Terry (cheekbone) and striker Michael Owen (hernia). England will definitely be without Emile Heskey because of a broken metatarsal.
Hargreaves, who joined United in the summer, did not play his first game for United until August 19 and managed just three games before sustaining a thigh injury in training with England ahead of their game against Israel on September 8.
