London, Sep 17 (IANS) Manchester United suffered another blow after learning that Mikael Silvestre will miss the rest of the season with a cruciate knee ligament injury.
The 30-year-old Silvestre was stretchered off just before half-time in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Everton after collapsing in pain, reports United’s official website.
The defender’s appearances have been limited this season because of Patrice Evra’s good form.
But his injury leaves United short of defensive cover at left-back following Gabriel Heinze’s move to Real Madrid.
It is also the latest in a series of knee injuries to hit the Old Trafford camp.
Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung and England goalkeeper Ben Foster are both at different stages of recovery from cruciate ligament surgery, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer announced his retirement this month after failing to recover from a long-term knee complaint.
John O’Shea is also out after sustaining an injury on Republic of Ireland duty last week.
Youngsters Gerard Pique and Johnny Evans are likely to be among Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad when United open their UEFA Champions League campaign against Sporting Lisbon in Portugal Wednesday.