Ferguson concern over Neville injury

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed Manchester United skipper Gary Neville may require surgery to cure his troublesome calf problem.

The 31-year-old first reported the injury when he returned from World Cup duty with England, since when he has struggled to play a consistent run of games for the Old Trafford outfit although he did feature in Saturday's win at Sheffield United.

Ferguson said: "Gary came through Saturday's game okay and he trained on Monday but obviously, the injury has been a concern. We are holding our breath hoping it doesn't happen again because if it does we will have to take a long-term view and do something about it."

Although Neville could carry on playing, Ferguson is not prepared to take the risk of the full-back breaking down completely, which could lead to a lengthy spell on the sidelines at a time when United are chasing glory on what the Scot hopes will be many fronts.

"If it keeps going on and on and on, we might get to the new year having lost him for a long period," he said.

"Had it just been one calf, we would be saying to ourselves 'give it time'. But because he is getting it in the left one as well, it suggests it is something different."