Gary Neville, the Manchester United captain, has suffered a setback in his bid to return to first-team duty.

Neville has not played for the Premier League champions since breaking an ankle against Bolton Wanderers at the beginning of March. The England international was expected to be fit for the FA Cup final with Chelsea but his comeback was delayed because of calf and thigh problems.

The 32-year-old appeared to be on the road to recovery when he played in United’s reserves against Sunderland last month. However, another reserve match was scrapped last week and Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, ruled the defender out of the club’s Champions League match with Roma next week.

“Gary has had another setback,” Ferguson said. “Obviously it is disappointing. He has gone back to the specialist for him to have another look at it but at the moment there is nothing positive on that all.”

Ferguson refuted claims that Neville’s injury problems are career threatening. “It is not getting serious,” he said. “He just keeps getting niggling injuries.

“It is a concern that he gets small setbacks every time he gets ready to play. We need to sort it out and get him back as soon as possible.”