Valencia: Hamstrung

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Valencia sidelined for a month

Manchester United could be without Antonio Valencia for up to four weeks after the winger injured his hamstring in the 2-0 Europa League win at Ajax Amsterdam on Thursday night.

Valencia only came on as a second half substitute, and provided the cross for Javier Hernandez to score United’s second, but he had to be withdrawn moments later.

Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed that the former Wigan wide man had pulled his hamstring.

He said: “He has a hamstring injury unfortunately. It will be four weeks.

“It is a bad blow for us.”

Ferguson was, however, buoyed by the performance of Ashley Young, who on his first appearance since Christmas, netted United’s first.

Fellow winger Nani also made a return to the team but the Scotsman wasn’t overly impressed with his side’s all-round performance.

The manager added: “It was Ashley’s first game in two months.

“Nani came back as well, Phil Jones has played a full game, which is good for us and Tom Cleverley has played a bit of football too so bit by bit we are getting stronger.

“The result was better than the performance,” he said.

“The first half was disappointing. We found it difficult to get rhythm and speed to our game. Ajax pressed the ball very well and played nice football.

“We had to waken up in the second half because we were making it difficult for ourselves.

“The second half improved and we made some good opportunities. We deserved to win and you can’t complain too much when you win 2-0 away from home.”