Sir Alex Ferguson's injury problems have escalated after it emerged last night that Wes Brown could be facing a significant period on the sidelines while Dimitar Berbatov could miss the next three games.

Brown is understood to have undergone surgery on the ankle injury that has ruled him out for the past month, whereas Berbatov suffered a thigh strain in Bulgaria's friendly against Serbia on Wednesday, joining an injury list at Old Trafford that includes Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves.