Manchester United striker Michael Owen has been ruled out for the season after tests revealed the extent of the hamstring injury he picked up in last Sunday's Carling Cup final victory over Aston Villa.
The news is a big blow for Owen, who has been plagued by hamstring injuries throughout his career, and ends any slim hopes he had of making a late charge into Fabio Capello's England World Cup squad.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was quick to point the finger of blame at the Wembley turf, which was heavily criticised by both sets of players after the Carling Cup final, though Ferguson also admitted there was an element of bad luck involved in the injury.
Ferguson claimed on Monday that he expected Owen to be out "for a few weeks" but the news is much worse for the striker, who has scored nine goals in 27 appearances this season.
"It's a bad blow - he's out for the season,'' Ferguson said at his pre-match press conference on Friday. "Unfortunately it's more serious than we thought. He will be operated on on Monday morning.
"It's a terrible blow for the lad and is disappointing news for us too. He has never missed a training session all season. I think the heavy pitch at Wembley on Sunday made some contribution to it but really it is just bad luck.''
With Owen out, United are left with young duo Mame Biram Diouf and Federico Macheda as back-up strikers, but if either Wayne Rooney or Dimitar Berbatov were to get injured, it would leave Ferguson with a lack of experience in reserve.
Danny Welbeck, who is currently on loan at Preston, is not eligible for a recall because his loan agreement is a half-season loan, which runs up until the end of the campaign.
Owen has experienced a mixed first season at Old Trafford, only managing five league starts and finding himself, more often than not, on the United substitutes bench.
But a winning goal in the Manchester derby against Manchester City endeared him to the United faithful and a hat-trick against Wolfsburg in the Champions League proved that the striker, who has scored 40 golas in 89 internationals for England, still possesses the quality to play at the top level.
Better news for United is that Owen Hargreaves is set to make his long-awaited comeback in a reserve team encounter next Thursday, having been out since September 2008 with a series of knee problems.
Ferguson confirmed an outing against Manchester City's second string at Altrincham's Moss Lane ground is on the cards.
"Owen Hargreaves has shown for the first time that he is almost ready to play,'' Ferguson said. "He has been training with the first team, which has been good to see, and is pencilled in for a game with the reserves on Thursday.''http://soccernet.espn.go.com
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