Manchester United Football Club’s Michael Owen faces a spell on the sidelines.

The former Real Madrid ace was given a rare start for the Reds in the Carling Cup final on Sunday, and he looked lively when scoring the equaliser against Aston Villa.

United went on to win the cup 2-1 thanks to a Wayne Rooney header, but they did so without Owen who faces a month out of action after pulling up with a hamstring injury.

“He's not had a lot of football and the pitch probably wasn't the best for him," said Sir Alex Ferguson. “Michael isn't suited to a heavy pitch like that. We paid the penalty for it.

"That aside, I thought he was one of our best performers in the first half. He did really well for us and scored a goal to get us back in the game.

"He's good at picking up crumbs. He's as good as anybody at that. He will go for scans tomorrow (Monday), I think Michael will be out for a few weeks."

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