Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that the Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley will be out of action until Christmas with ankle ligament damage.

Cleverley suffered the injury at Everton last month, which was his first game back after sustaining a foot problem at Bolton in September.

And although Ferguson initially felt the injury was not too serious, he has now admitted it is worse than he imagined.

"It is pretty long term," said Ferguson. "(He will be out until) Christmas time. It is unfortunate. It is worse than we thought.

"When he first came off against Everton he reported it as just a tightness, with a bit of pain. We have done scans again and the injury has recurred. We will have to give him a break."