Carrick to miss start of season

Manchester United have been dealt a blow ahead of the new Premier League season with the news that Michael Carrick will miss the first couple of games due to an ankle injury.

The England midfielder picked up the knock during United’s 7-1 friendly victory over an Airtricity League of Ireland side on Wednesday. It will annoy Carrick that he has sustained the injury such a low key game, that’s for sure.

Sir Alex Ferguson said that the situation was “nothing serious” though and he fully expects Carrick to be heavily involved in the Premier League season before long. Perhaps the home game with West Ham United at the end of August is a realistic target for him.

It isn’t just Manchester United that are missing out on Carrick’s services as England will not be able to select him for their friendly against Hungary on Wednesday.

However, with Fabio Capello likely to go in a new direction, Carrick – who didn’t make an impact at the World Cup – may not have been picked anyway.

In terms of other injury news at Old Trafford, Ferguson revealed that Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen would get 45 minutes each against Chelsea in the Charity Shield on Sunday.

As it stands, the Chelsea v Manchester United betting for the Charity Shield is pretty tight, so it could be a competitive game and should give fans a chance to see where the sides are at.

However, there will be a few other players missing and Ferguson said: “Gabriel Obertan still has the ankle injury he picked up in the United States. It will be a few weeks before Rio Ferdinand is back among us and Owen Hargreaves is still in the United States.”

“Anderson is making good progress from his knee injury and he could be back training in two or three weeks.”

The Betfair Football betting makes United second favourites to win the league this season, but their preparations have not been smooth.

Overall, it has been a strange pre-season for Manchester United. With little transfer activity and players picking up knocks here and there, it has been far from ideal. However, under the management of Ferguson, you would back them to be ready for Newcastle on the 16th August.