THE NEW SICKNOTE

From the Mirror:

United will decide today whether to send Rio Ferdinand for surgery on his injured knee.

An operation on the long-standing problem, which was aggravated playing for England in South Africa last week, will rule him out for six weeks.

It would be a huge blow for Ferdinand, who will definitely miss England's friendly with Serbia on Tuesday and the Euro 2004 qualifier with Slovakia on June 11.

He would also struggle to be ready for United's pre-season preparations and four-game tour of America at the end of July. Ferdinand has been carrying the injury for the past three months but played through the pain to boost his team's push for the Premiership title.

After he limped off in Durban, however, both the England and United medics fear that surgery is the only long-term solution.

The operation will be to clean up the knee after cartilage and ligament trouble, with the defender hoping to be fit for the start of the new Premiership campaign.