United's Young out for two weeks - Ferguson

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom (AFP) –

Manchester United winger Ashley Young (C) vies for the ball with Reading goalkeeper Stuart Taylor during a Premier League match at Old Trafford in Manchester, north-west England on March 16, 2013. United manager Alex Ferguson said on Friday that Young has been ruled out for a fortnight and will miss his side’s Premier League match with Stoke City on Sunday.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said on Friday that Ashley Young has been ruled out for a fortnight and will miss his side’s Premier League match with Stoke City on Sunday.

Young was forced off in the 2-1 derby defeat with Manchester City on Monday after he picked up an ankle injury late in the match following a tackle by Pablo Zabaleta.

The Old Trafford boss said the 27-year-old England international will miss the next two weeks, which looks likely to include United’s matches with West Ham and his former club Aston Villa.

Ferguson had more encouraging news on the remainder of his injured players and in particular veteran midfielder Paul Scholes, who is set to resume training having not played since the end of January with a knee injury.

“Ashley is out after he had got a sore whack on his ankle and it will maybe be two weeks for him, but other than that we are in good shape in terms of player availability,” said Ferguson.

“Paul Scholes will start training with the first team and has done a fair bit in the last week or so.

“It will be a boost to have Paul’s football intelligence back in the squad. He’s been out for a few weeks now though so will need a good bit of training with us.”

Ferguson also said there has not been an extended hangover in the Manchester United camp following their Champions League exit to Real Madrid at the beginning of March.

United have struggled to recapture the form they showed in the first half of the season since they were knocked out but Ferguson preferred to dwell on the positives with seven Premier League matches remaining.

“I think the disappointment showed itself against Chelsea in the FA Cup and there was a draining effect, even from a supporters’ point of view,” said the Scot.

“But that’s a couple of weeks ago. My experience of football is that the disappointments disappear quickly because there is always something to look forward to.

“There’s always the next game and we have a challenge. Our challenge at the beginning of the season was to win the league title back.

“Our consistency has been brilliant and there’s no other way to look at that. It’s been fantastic. We are one great goal short of 100 goals this season, which mirrors the success of the team overall.”

Ferguson predicted that his team will react positively to the defeat against City when they meet Stoke City this weekend.

He added: “It’s always disappointing to lose a derby game but there was nothing to choose between the teams. Possession-wise they were better in the first half and we were better in the second.

“We lost two bad goals and you can’t do that in derby games. But it was a fantastic derby game in terms of intensity. The start was brilliant, both teams went for it and it was end-to-end.

“There were half chances of sorts but there’s only one save between the goalkeepers in the whole match. That gives you an idea of how close the game was.

“However, I don’t think we should look at our position and say ‘we have 12 points’. I don’t think that matters. I think what matters we show how we can perform against Stoke on Sunday.

“We will look at the next game. There’s only seven games left and we whittle the games down now.”