Rio could miss season's end

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand could miss the remainder of the season due to a calf injury.

Ferdinand has been hampered by injury problems in recent campaigns and is struggling to feature in United's quest to repeat their 1999 Treble success.

The centre-half has not appeared for United since suffering the problem in the warm-up prior to the club's first Premier League defeat of the season at Wolves in early February.

Speaking last weekend, Sir Alex Ferguson expressed his belief that Ferdinand could return for the Red Devils' first game after the international break at the 32-year-old's former club West Ham United.

However, there is now a concern that the current England captain will play no further part in United's bid to win the title, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League.

"Rio has been out for a few weeks now," said Ferguson.

"We are not looking at this as a short-term situation.

"He has not started training yet. We will be lucky to get him back for some part of the season."

The injury news could also make England coach Fabio Capello's decision regarding who will captain the team in the Euro 2012 against Wales much easier to make.

John Terry has been tipped to reclaim the armband for the game at the Millennium Stadium due to the ongoing concerns over Ferdinand's fitness.

With Ferdinand unlikely to feature again this term, reports suggest Terry could be given the captaincy back on a permanent basis.