England defender Rio Ferdinand insists there is "no question" that
he will be fit for the World Cup despite fears over his long-term
fitness.
The Manchester United centre-half has not played since the
Red Devils' 2-0 loss at Liverpool in October thanks to a calf
injury, which is linked to a previous back problem.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has denied that the
defender's injury is long-term and believes he will soon be back in
action for the defending Premier League champions.
England manager Fabio Capello has insisted that his 23-man
World Cup squad will not include anyone who is not fully fit,
raising doubts about the 31-year-old's prospects of going to South
Africa. Ferdinand has played only 12 internationals since Capello
took over two years ago, but the former West Ham defender insists
he will be ready to answer the Italian's call when he names his
squad next summer.
"I'm confident I'll be fit. There's no question I'll be ready
for next summer,"
Ferdinand said. Ferdinand has been seeing a specialist in
London to try and speed up his recovery.
No timescale has been set for his return to action but he is
confident he will be back soon.
"It's the worst thing for a player to be injured and to be
just watching your team, so I've been working hard in the gym to
get fit," said Ferdinand. "The treatment on my injury is going
well. It's been quite slowly slowly but we're getting there.
"I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's been a
tough and long layoff for me because I have never been injured
before."
United's defence has been ravaged by injury recently with Wes
Brown, Jonny Evans, John O'Shea and Gary Neville all joining
Ferdinand on the sidelines. As a result Ferguson has had to field a
makeshift back four on a number of occasions, the most obvious
being for United's 3-1 Champions League win over Wolfsburg when
midfielders Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick played in defence.
Despite their injury problems, United have conceded only
three league goals since Ferdinand's last appearance. He believes
the performance of those filling in for him shows the strength and
determination of the Manchester United squad.
"Michael Carrick's done a great job filling in at
centre-half, so has Darren Fletcher at right-back so I'm glad for
them. That's what Manchester United is all about, it's all about
the team effort,"Ferdinand said.
Ferdinand was speaking at the launch of his Live the Dream
charity foundation in London on Wednesday night.
"The foundation is a vehicle to reach out to young people and
provide them with the resources they need to unlock their
potential. The Live the Dream Foundation will help to change
lives," he said.
