Michael Owen not playing in Manchester United match against Valencia
Veteran Manchester United striker Michael Owen will not be taking part in his team’s upcoming match against Valencia in the Champions League. Owen has returned to full training after recovering from his hamstring injury, but Man
Utd manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that the 30-year-old striker needs at least two more weeks of training before he is fit to play.
While talking about the importance of Owen in the team, Ferguson said that while the striker’s ability cannot be questioned, there is no chance of playing him in the next match due to his current condition.
"Michael has no chance of being involved (against Valencia)," said Ferguson. "He returned to training in the middle of last week but we are going to make sure he gets two more weeks behind him. We don't want to take any risks because
it was probably our fault he was injured last time."
Owen has been rather prone to injuries for most of his career and has recently spent quite some time off the playing field. Earlier this year, he ruptured his hamstring during the Carling Cup final – an injury that led to him being
unable to play in the 2010 World Cup or the rest of the season. The injury recurred in October this year and Owen has been off the bench since.
Ferguson has said that the best available United squad will be lined up for the upcoming match against Valencia, and reported that most of his senior players would be available for selection. The match is going to be crucial for
Man Utd, who need a point to confirm their position on top of the Group C table. If United can ensure their top position in Group C, they will be able to avoid facing bigger teams like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the next round of the tournament.
At the moment, Valencia is only three points behind Manchester United but can overtake the Red Devils with just one win, as Valencia has the better goal average in the Championships League so far.
Man Utd’s weekend fixture against Blackpool was postponed due to frozen conditions on the field, so the team has not played for the past ten days. This means that most of the team’s senior players have not played since November
27, because Ferguson played a second-string lineup in last week’s match against West Ham.
“We’d have preferred to have played a game [against Blackpool] on Saturday,” said Ferguson.
In good news for Man Utd, one player who has indeed successfully returned from an injury is veteran midfielder Paul Scholes, who was previously out with a groin injury.
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