Ronaldo jolt to Man U, to stay off field till mid-Nov

Manchester United got a blow yesterday when it was declared that Cristiano Ronaldo could be out of the field until mid-November following his ankle operation.

London, Aug 23 : Manchester United got a blow yesterday when it was declared that Cristiano Ronaldo could be out of the field until mid-November following his ankle operation.

Mau U had hoped that their superstar winger would return by the start of October after an operation on his right ankle on July 7. But Ronaldo, 23, will not be back for another 12 weeks, reported The Sun.

United boss Alex Ferguson said: "We are not putting anyone under pressure. You may as well wait the extra week or two to make sure that they don't end up back in the physio room. That is important."

Ferguson further said: "Cristiano has been jogging all week. It is only jogging but I am quite pleased about that. The plan was to give him one month of rehab work. He is doing the aerobic work in the gym. He is one week into that. There is good progress. Being young it sometimes helps in terms of recovery and getting back quicker. The physios must do their job properly. There is no point rushing it."

Ronaldo played with pain-killing injections for the last three months of the season and through Portugal's Euro 2008 campaign to delay any surgery. But, that made the initial problem worse and it now looks to have extended his rehabilitation period.

The 'winger' began doing light work this week at Man U's Carrington training camp.

ANI