Rooney to miss two months with foot injury

Aug 13, 2007, 18:41 GMT

Manchester, England - Manchester United confirmed on Monday that striker Wayne Rooney will be out of action for two months after suffering a hairline fracture of his left foot in the team's season-opening draw against Reading on Sunday.

Rooney suffered the injury in the first half when Reading defender Michael Duberry came down on his left foot while trying to block a Rooney shot. After briefly receiving treatment, Rooney returned to the game but was taken off at halftime.

'It's two months,' United manager Sir Alex Ferguson told the club's website about Rooney's injury. 'But you never know with these kind of fractures, hopefully it will be sooner, but that's the timescale we're putting on it at the moment.'

Foot injuries are nothing new to the 21-year-old striker, who has missed time in 2004 and 2006 because of similar injuries to his right foot.

Ferguson also confirmed on Monday that striker Carlos Tevez will make his Manchester United debut on Wednesday as the Red Devils travel to Portsmouth.

Tevez will be expected to shoulder the scoring load with fellow strikers Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also out with injuries, leaving Ferguson with few options up top.

In addition to missing time with United, Rooney will also likely be out of action for England, which has four crucial EURO 2008 qualifiers coming up in the next two months.

© 2007 The Sports Network