Sir Alex Ferguson plays down Rio Ferdinand fears

Manchester United are confident that Rio Ferdinand's fitness struggles will be solved in the next few weeks, despite suggestions that the defender could be sidelined for a prolonged period.

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Rio Ferdinand has been restricted by injury this season

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Ferdinand has made only five Premier League appearances this season for United and his last appearance for club or country was the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on October 25 when he was outmuscled and outpaced by Fernando Torres for the opening goal.

It was thought that his latest injury related to his calf but United have now identified that it is linked to a previous problem with his lower back. Despite claims that Ferdinand could miss the remainder of 2010, Sir Alex Ferguson appears confident that the defender will be back in time for Christmas.

"It is back-related," Ferguson said. "We are not putting a timescale on it but it is not a situation where we are saying it will be months. It might be a couple of weeks or it might be a few weeks, but that is it."

Owen Hargreaves is also making encouraging progress as he continues his recovery from double knee surgery to address his tendinitis problems.

"He's doing his training very well," Ferguson said. "I think it's more a confidence thing for the lad to come back into real full training with us. He's doing quite good work with the physios and football related training, not in a competitive level at the moment.

"I think that's being out for a year and two months. We're of the mind that we'll take our time and not rush it, get his confidence back in that respect."

Meanwhile, United youngster Tom Cleverly has extended his loan spell at Watford until the end of the season after scoring six goals in 14 appearances.