Kagawa out for up to a month

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed Shinji Kagawa will be sidelined for up to a month with a knee injury.

The Japanese international was taken off at half-time during United’s 3-2 Champions League win over Sporting Braga on Tuesday after aggravating the problem.

Kagawa will miss Sunday’s crucial English Premier League clash at Chelsea, along with the visit of Arsenal on November 3.

The attacker is also in doubt for United’s Champions League encounter against Galatasaray later in November.

“It’s a similar (knee) injury to the one Ashley Young had,” Ferguson told reporters.

“He’s going to be out for three to four weeks. Playing on with the injury didn’t help the situation for him.”

Kagawa has made a steady start to his Old Trafford career, scoring two goals in six games in the Premier League, and should be fit in time to play a part in his first Manchester derby on December 9.

Ferguson said Chris Smalling was back in training and he hopes fellow defensive partner Phil Jones will step up his rehabilitation shortly.

“Smalling is back training on the football side of things. Phil Jones will hopefully start full training a week on Monday,” he said.