Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has said that Rio Ferdinand could be out for the rest of the season.The central defender has been struggling with a calf injury and the news is made worse by confirmation that John O'Shea has been ruled out for five weeks while Rafael faces three weeks out. Both players have hamstring injuries.
"We're having a bad spell," said Ferguson. "Only a few weeks ago we had every defender fit. We've got the bonus of Wes Brown being able to play centre-back and right-back, and Chris Smalling has been brilliant.
"Rio has been out for a few weeks now. We are not looking at this as a short-term situation. He has not started training yet. We will be lucky to get him back for some part of the season."
Ferguson also said he is yet to decide whether to appeal against his five-match touchline ban, but is clearly not happy about it.
A disciplinary hearing on Wednesday saw him punished heavily for comments made about referee Martin Atkinson following United's 2-1 defeat at Chelsea earlier this month.
He has vowed to defend himself strongly.
"It is disappointing," he said. "It is the only industry where you can't tell the truth. But it is in the past now."
source: yahoo uk sports
