Manchester United suffer John O'Shea injury blow

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said defender John O'Shea is likely to miss the rest of the season because of a leg problem.

O'Shea, 28, has not played since the Republic of Ireland's World Cup play-off against France in November as his nation failed to reach the finals.

Ferguson told the Irish Independent: "He's got a terrible injury - the blood clot became all knotted.

"It's a long process to clear it up and he'll probably miss the season now."

United have had problems in defence this season, with Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Jonny Evans, Wes Brown, Rafael Da Silva, Fabio Da Silva and Gary Neville all having significant spells out of the game.

O'Shea's injury was initially thought to be nothing more serious than a dead leg.

However, Ferguson added: "It's one of those sorts of injuries that are unusual. It's like a dead leg except a dead leg is usually only three or four days.

"It's a bad blow for the boy and for the team because he can play anywhere.

"When you look at all the problems I've had with the back four this season, he could have played every single one."

Prior to suffering the injury to his leg, O'Shea had played 15 times for United this season as well as featuring in three World Cup qualifying games for the Republic of Ireland.