Sir Alex Ferguson has dismissed fears that Owen Hargreaves’s Manchester United career could be in jeopardy because of a persistent tendinitis problem, although the manager said yesterday he was unsure when the England midfield player might return to action.

Hargreaves was hopeful that the worst of his injury problems were behind him, but despite undergoing a course of injections, he has played in only three games this season.

Ferguson ruled out the prospect of Hargreaves, who joined United from Bayern Munich in a projected £20.2 million deal 15½ months ago, undergoing surgery any time soon, but it remains to be seen how big a part the 27-year-old plays this season. “When players get these type of injuries, they are frustrated and that’s what we’re having to deal with,” Ferguson said. “It could be destroying to a player in a sense that he’s desperate to play, which he’s come here to do. The fact he’s a new young player, there’s a double imperative for him to handle.

“We’ve given him the best advice and treatment and he knows that and he’ll be back — there’s no doubt about that. This is not a situation where he won’t [be back].” With Hargreaves sidelined, Paul Scholes out for another eight weeks with medial knee ligament damage and Michael Carrick unlikely to return until next weekend at the earliest as he recovers from an ankle injury, Ferguson looks set to have only one fit recognised central midfield player, Darren Fletcher, available for the Barclays Premier League against West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford this evening.

Anderson returned from World Cup qualifiers in South America only yesterday and Ferguson may limit his involvement, with one eye on the Champions League match against Celtic at Old Trafford on Tuesday.