Manchester United's Japan international midfielder Shinji Kagawa will be sidelined for up to four weeks after a left knee injury forced him to miss the second half of the midweek win against Braga in the Champions League, United boss Alex Ferguson said Friday.
Kagawa is out of Sunday's top-of-the-table Premier League clash at Chelsea and Ferguson said it is likely that it will be "three or four weeks" before the 23-year-old former Borussia Dortmund star is playing again.
That means Kagawa will also be unavailable for Japan's World Cup qualifier away to Oman on Nov. 14.
"It's a knee injury similar to the one Ashley Young had," Ferguson told United's official website. "I think playing on with the injury did not help the situation. It's disappointing for him."
Kagawa sparked United's fight back from two goals down at Old Trafford against Braga on Tuesday, setting up the team's first in the 25th minute for Javier Hernandez, who also went on to score the winner with a quarter-hour left to play.
Kagawa said after the match that the injury was not serious and he expected to return sooner rather than later.
Just after Hernandez made it 2-1, Kagawa hurt his knee while tackling. Not wanting to leave the game, he played the rest of the half but Ferguson pulled him at the break for Nani.