Scholes: Possible December return

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Manchester United have confirmed that Paul Scholes is facing 10 weeks on the sidelines as a result of his knee injury.

An initial analysis suggested Scholes would be out of action for up to eight weeks with medial ligament damage.

But additional tests have indicated that the midfielder is likely to require a further 14 days of rehabilitation.

The 33-year-old suffered the problem during the early stages of United's UEFA Champions League victory away to AaB Aalborg on Tuesday.

Former England international Scholes was caught by a heavy challenge from Thomas Augustinussen after 16 minutes and was replaced by Ryan Giggs after leaving the field on a stretcher.

Scholes is now unlikely to regain fitness until mid-December and looks set to miss up to 14 matches, including the home and away European meetings with Celtic on 21st October and 5th November, respectively.

The injury is also set to rule Scholes out of Premier League trips to Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City in November.

If the current diagnosis proves accurate, Scholes could return when Aalborg visit Old Trafford on 10th December, or when United travel to Tottenham three days later.