Carrick blow for United

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The 26-year-old suffered the injury during the latter stages of his side's Champions League victory over Roma at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Sidelined: Michael Carrick, (above) before the injury against Roma, has a fractured right elbow

Although he appeared fine immediately after the game, x-rays have revealed the full extent of the problem, leaving Sir Alex Ferguson facing a selection headache for Saturday's encounter with Wigan as Owen Hargreaves has also been ruled out.

Ferguson confirmed that Hargreaves had received an injection to counter a growing problem of tendinitis in his knee, meaning the former Bayern Munich man will be missing for the next four weeks.

It means that during the next month only Paul Scholes will be available as a recognised central midfielder as Darren Fletcher is also sidelined by a knee injury.

Given the period includes a two-week international break and a free midweek at the end of this month, caused by the Red Devils' shock Carling Cup exit to Coventry, the damage to United's prospects is not as serious as it might have been.

While Carrick will probably not be in action until the trip to Bolton on November 24, Hargreaves could return for the key trip to Arsenal three weeks earlier.

It means Ferguson will shuffle his pack for the next four games, including the Champions League visit to Dynamo Kiev on October 23.

Brazilian new boy Anderson is capable of playing in central midfield but a more likely alternative would be John O'Shea, who himself has only just recovered from a knee injury.

The Irishman starred at right-back against Roma this week but Wes Brown is not due to be sidelined for long, Gary Neville is about to begin his comeback from long-standing injury and Ferguson could also turn to rookie Danny Simpson, who made his first-team debut against Coventry.

All three could fill the full-back berth with O'Shea stepping into midfield as he has done with some success in the past.

For Carrick though it is a frustrating break, which means he will be unable to put any pressure on Aston Villa's Gareth Barry for the England midfield spot alongside Steven Gerrard.

Not only will the former Tottenham player miss this month's double header with Estonia and Russia, he is almost certainly out of the friendly in Austria on November 16 and the final Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia five days later.