Neville op a success
Sir Alex Ferguson says Gary Neville's ankle operation was a success
and the skipper should be fit for the start of next
season.
The Reds' defender has not played since injuring his ankle
ligaments during United's victory over Bolton Wanderers on 17 March
and has also been ruled out of Saturday's FA Cup final.
Neville was initially expected to be out of action for around six
weeks, but there was no improvement and consequently an operation
was deemed the best possible treatment.
"We felt like we should give him every chance of making the Cup
final with him being our captain," insisted Sir Alex at his pre-Cup
final press conference. "But it just wasn't working.
"It was a blow when it happened, but we didn't think it was
serious. We thought he'd be out for around five or six weeks, but
it just didn't get any better.
"Strangly his sprinting was not a problem, it was when he was
jogging that the problem seemed to surface again.
"It came to the point that he just wasn't going to make the final.
So we wanted to get him fit for the start of next season. The
operation was successful. They've cleaned the problem up and he
should be ready for the new campaign."
John O'Shea or Wes Brown are the probable candidates to fill in at
right-back on Saturday, while the United boss confirmed that Ryan
Giggs will captain the Reds at Wembley. Neville will however be at
Wembley to see the Reds in action.
"He'll probably travel down to the team hotel on Friday," added Sir
Alex.
