Hargreaves out of Austria match
Owen Hargreaves will be missing from the squad flying to Austria
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Wednesday, 14, Nov 2007 04:07
Midfielder Owen Hargreaves has been ruled out of England's friendly against Austria on Friday night with a knee injury.
The 26-year-old Manchester United player complained of discomfort in the joint ahead of the squad flying out to Vienna today.
He will remain at his club side's Carrington training complex to receive treatment and his injury will be reassessed when the England squad returns to home soil ahead of next Wednesday's potentially crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia at Wembley.
The home side must win that fixture and hope group E rivals Russia drop points against Israel in Tel Aviv in order to qualify for the finals next summer.
It is unclear whether or not Hargreaves' injury is a recurrence of the problem that has hampered him throughout the early stages of his Old Trafford career.
The former Bayern Munich utility man joined United in the summer but did not make his competitive debut until the third match of the season, a 1-0 derby defeat to Manchester City.
And he has since started only five games for the club, all in the Premier League.
The FA were hoping that this Friday's friendly in Austria would be a precursor to England's successful qualification for Euro 2008 and could be used as something of a scouting mission for facilities and conditions in the country.
However the focus has shifted from that match to developments in Tel Aviv the following day as English fans become Israeli supporters for the evening.