Rio Ferdinand will miss England's next two games after suffering
a recurrence of his groin injury while training with the national
team.
The United defender skipped Tuesday's session after aggravating the
strain over the weekend and later withdrew from the squad ahead of
his country's friendly against Brazil at Wembley on Friday and the
crunch Euro 2008 qualifier in Estonia on 6 June.
Ferdinand sustained the original injury in United's 4-1 FA Cup
semi-final win over Watford on 14 April and it hampered him the
following weekend when he limped out of the Middlesbrough match at
Old Trafford. He then missed vital matches in the Premiership
run-in, as well as both legs of the Champions League semi-final
against AC Milan. And although he started the FA Cup final, there
were moments when the injury appeared to trouble him.
Liverpool's Jamie Carragher is likely to take Ferdinand's place at
centre-back alongside skipper John Terry, while fellow United
defender Wes Brown is a probable starter at right-back in Gary
Neville's absence.
