Fergie drops Hargreaves hint

Sir Alex Ferguson has hinted he will not blood Owen Hargreaves back into his first-team amid reports he will not play for Manchester United this season.

The Canada-born England international has not played for the Red Devils since September 2008 after undergoing surgery on both knees but has been gradually stepping up his rehabilitation in recent months.

Hargreaves was part of United's squad that lost 2-1 at home to Chelsea recently and it was expected that he would feature between now and the summer.

However, Ferguson has done little to quash reports that Hargreaves will not return until next season by hinting he has more than enough options currently vying for midfield places.

"It is difficult to say when Owen will be back; he is training well and I had him in the squad for the Chelsea game," stated Ferguson.

"His training performances have been fine but I think at the moment midfield is not an issue for us because we have plenty of alternatives."

Meanwhile, the vastly-experienced Scottish tactician has praised the goals output of Darron Gibson, who took his season tally to six after scoring against Bayern Munich last week.

Ferguson believes it would be unwise to ignore Gibson's goal-scoring prowess and has likened the 22-year-old's ability to find the back to the net to that of Paul Scholes.

United's long-serving manager believes with more regular first-team football the Republic of Ireland international could make a telling contribution from midfield.

"You saw Gibson's performance against Bayern Munich," he said. "That was his sixth goal of the season [in all competitions] and you cannot dismiss that.

"It is the kind of contribution we used to get from Paul Scholes. He used to get me 12 to 14 goals from midfield all the time and we haven't had a player like that in a while.

"Who is to say if Gibson had been playing all the time where he would be in terms of goals? But he is getting recognition now and even the players are commenting on how much he has improved."

Source: Sky Sports
Date Published: 15 April 2010

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He is finished IMO. Sad news.

- Menace

I agree with Birchy on this one. Really disapointed was looking foward to having him ready for the start of the season and add soemthing to the Midfield that I thought was missing in parts last season.

- RED AUSSIE ANT

surely its time to end this now? even he he does get back is he really gonna be a key player that we can rely on when the big matches come around? thanks for the memories, moscow et all but i think nows the time to move on.

- birchy

Hopefully the injections will be a short term measure as opposed to the only way he'll get on the pitch from 11/12 onwards. I know they're the exception rather than the rule but if we look at the likes of King & McGrath sometimes the guys with no medical justification for playing the way they do defy all logic to do so way beyond the age expected.

- jonny

I hope im wrong but i honestly cant see him getting back to the level he was at before the injury especially now that he'll have to keep getting injections and playing through constant pain for the rest of his career. I thought it was a bit strange as well that he was pulled from the reserve game before it was called off, surely another 45 minutes to build up some match fitness would have been of great benefit to him.

- Munsterman

From what I read today it's pretty much a case of managing the pain for him now, which surely doesn't bode well for a long stay?

- Jonesy

Nice of the press to put a more positive spin on things then. I still retain some hope that he's ready to make that step up sooner rather than later.

- jonny

If he can capture the form he showed in 2008 then he would go straight into the starting line-up for me. A central midfield of him and Fletcher might be good enough to stop Xavi and Iniesta working their magic should we be lucky enough to face Barca again.

- Menace

Its easy to forget how good he is. As well as the fact he is a United player. If we can get him fit and playing for the run in, would be a great advantage.

- Matt

Absolutely, i think a midfield of him, Fletch and Scholesy are a match for any midfield any where in the world, then you have Giggs, Park, Valencia and Nani who can all play on the wings and Carrick, Park and Giggsy who can all play through the middle, its definitely our strongest area on the field and the main reason we are still in the running for the major competitions despite all the injuries we've had in defense.

- Hamzah