Fergie receives Owen boost

Sir Alex Ferguson expects Michael Owen to be available for Manchester United's first game after the international break.

Owen aggravated a groin injury during the early stages of United's 2-1 victory over Wolfsburg in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night.

The striker had initially picked up the problem in training on Sunday, but was passed fit to start his third game of the season for United.

There were suggestions that Owen would be sidelined for at least three weeks, but Ferguson believes the 29-year-old will be fit to face Bolton Wanderers on 17th October.

"We expect him to be available for the next game, it certainly won't be three weeks," said the United boss ahead of Saturday's date with Sunderland.

"We are quite pleased. Obviously it is understandable we wanted to take precautions given his past history, but we are quite comfortable with the situation.

"He did miss training earlier this week, so maybe we should have left him out. But he wanted to play and I wanted him to play. Thankfully it is not a big problem for us."

Ferguson also revealed that Edwin van der Sar and Rafael Da Silva were both nudging towards full fitness after a broken finger and shoulder surgery respectively, although neither man is in contention to face Sunderland.