Injury boost for Owen

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Michael Owen should be fit for Manchester United's Premier League match with Bolton at Old Trafford on October 17.

It had been feared Owen would be missing for a minimum of three weeks after limping out of United's Champions League win against Wolfsburg on Wednesday with a groin strain. However, Ferguson has revealed the damage is not quite as extensive as he had first feared, meaning the 29-year-old will only miss Saturday's clash with Sunderland.

"We expect him to be available for the next game, it certainly won't be three weeks," Ferguson said.

"We are quite pleased. Obviously it is understandable we wanted to take precautions given his past history but we are quite comfortable with the situation.

"He did miss training earlier this week so maybe we should have left him out. But he wanted to play and I wanted him to play. Thankfully it is not a big problem for us."

Ferguson also revealed that Edwin van der Sar and Rafael Da Silva were both nudging towards full fitness after a broken finger and shoulder surgery respectively, although neither man is in contention to face Sunderland at Old Trafford on Saturday evening.