Rio Ferdinand is out for at least another two weeks after hospital scans on his thigh injury.

The Manchester United and England centre-back missed United's opening game, their 1-0 win against Birmingham at Old Trafford yesterday.

Today's medical report means Ferdinand will be sidelined for Wednesday's trip to Burnley, along with the games against Wigan and Arsenal at home.

The defender is also now a doubt for England's World Cup qualifiers next month against Slovenia and Croatia.

His partner at the centre of defence, Nemanja Vidic (calf), is also out of Wednesday's clash and reserve defender Jonny Evans limped off after 74 minutes against Birmingham with a groin injury - adding to United's considerable problems at the back.

Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar (broken hand), Gary Neville (groin) and Rafael da Silva (shoulder) are also out for United.

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson, whose side are chasing an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title, is trying to remain upbeat and said that it is not all doom and gloom at Old Trafford.

"Nemanja Vidic is back training and hopefully we'll get him back for next Saturday at Wigan.

"We've had a hard time with injuries in our defence over the last two seasons but we've got capable people to fill in."

Burnley, back in the top flight for the first time since 1976, started their season with a 2-0 defeat at Stoke on Saturday and will cause one of the shocks of the season if they beat United.