Tevez - just a bruised ankle
January 2nd, 2008 at 5:01 pm , filed under News.Manchester United have revealed that striker Carlos Tevez suffered only a bruised ankle in the New Year’s Day home win over Birmingham.
The Argentina international, 23, was forced off the pitch after 71 minutes of the 1-0 Premier League victory at Old Trafford and was then carried down the tunnel by two members of the backroom staff.
That raised fears that Tevez, who had earlier scored the winner, could even have suffered a broken ankle in a heavy challenge.
But a United spokesman has told the club website: “Nothing is broken, Carlos Tevez has just got a badly bruised right ankle.”
Tevez is still expected to miss Saturday evening’s FA Cup third-round tie at Aston Villa, but could return in time for the visit of Newcastle the following weekend.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted after the Birmingham game that Tevez was a major concern for the trip to Villa Park, and that is not a situation that will have changed despite Wednesday’s positive assessment.
Ferguson said on Tuesday: “It was a bad tackle and the longer the game went on, the worse the injury got.
“In the end, we had to bring Carlos off. We will assess him tomorrow to see what the damage is but he is doubtful for Saturday now.”
There is little need for the Scot to rush Tevez back into action, given fellow striker Wayne Rooney is on track to face Martin O’Neill’s side after recovering from a virus which kept him out for two matches.