MANCHESTER, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre will not play again until the middle of November because of a foot injury, United's assistant-manager Carlos Queiroz said on Friday.
Silvestre was taken off in United's defeat by Arsenal on
September 17 with scans subsequently confirming that he has damaged
a metatarsal.
Queiroz told reporters: 'His injury was a little bit more
serious than we thought at the beginning. He will be out for six
weeks, no less.'
Silvestre, 29, will miss the next phase of United's Premier
League and Champions League campaigns and also France's next two
European Championship qualifying games.
United striker Wayne Rooney, however, will return to
international action with England next weekend after completing
a two-match ban for his sending off against Portugal in the
World Cup finals.
Queiroz hopes that the 20-year-old will rediscover the form
that has been lacking this season following lengthy absences
through injury and suspension.
Queiroz said: 'He finished the training session and stayed
for a while working alone because he knows that he needs to do
something.
'But game after game when those things start to go right the
motivation and the confidence will start to grow and then he
will establish his own game.
'We believe this will happen in the next games and also
going with the national team next week we expect will give him
another lift to improve his performance.'
United take on Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Sunday
when they will be protecting an unbeaten 33-year-old home record
against the Tynesiders.
Queiroz expects an entertaining game but said that taking
maximum points will be the priority after a defeat and a draw in
their last two league games have allowed Chelsea to take over at
the top of the table.
He said: 'Since I have been here and some games I have
watched on television Manchester United against Newcastle always
seem to be great games,' he said.
'They are spectacular games with a lot of goals and no
matter which players are playing on Sunday for Newcastle or for
us, it will be showtime.
'We have talked a lot about how important it is not to drop
points at the beginning of the season, especially with the
experience we have had in the last two seasons.
'At the moment it's not important for me to think about
Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. What is important is that we
can't afford to drop points.'
Louis Saha and Darren Fletcher have slight knocks but are
expected to recover in time to face a Newcastle side that will
not be allowed to use on-loan striker Guiseppe Rossi who moved
to St James's Park from Old Trafford.
