United´s Vidic misses start of league season

Manchester United will begin the defence of their English Premier League title without injured Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said Friday.

Vidic had already been ruled out of the Community Shield against Chelsea on Sunday at Wembley and the opening Premier League game with promoted Birmingham because of a calf injury.

Fellow defender Wes Brown is also sidelined with a thigh problem but is expected back for the match against Birmingham while Gary Neville is unavailable because of a groin strain.

Ferguson said: “Neither Wes nor Nemanja have long-term injuries. I would expect Wes to be fit for the game a week on Sunday.

“As for Vidic he pulled his calf in the warm-up in Munich (against Bayern Munich) and is two weeks away.

“Gary is doing a little bit of training and coming on fine but I do not think he will make Sunday.”

With goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar out for up to ten weeks with broken fingers, Ferguson has to choose between Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak against Chelsea.

Both played a half in the game against Valencia in midweek and Ferguson added: “We have a selection dilemma as to who plays in goal on Sunday. It is not an easy one for me.”