United boost as scan shows Cleverley did not break foot and could return in three weeks

Tom Cleverley could return to action in three weeks after X-rays revealed that the Manchester United midfielder did not break his foot when he was fouled by Bolton striker Kevin Davies.

United are still angry at Davies over the challenge that left Cleverley on crutches with a protective boot on his left foot, although it has emerged that he phoned the 22-year-old on Saturday night to apologise.

The initial indications were that Cleverley, who has been a revelation for United so far this season, had suffered a break and could be ruled out for up to two months.

But further tests showed that he has sprained his ligament and tendon, and will be missing for three to four weeks.

Crunch: Tom Cleverley (right) is tackled by Bolton's Kevin Davies

Although Davies escaped a booking for the tackle, he was shown a yellow card by referee Andre Marriner for another foul on Patrice Evra shortly afterwards with both incidents prompting Sir Alex Ferguson to rush to the side of the pitch in anger.

Ferguson was sent off at Old Trafford in 2007 for complaining about Davies’s treatment of Evra, who accused the Bolton striker of having a vendetta against him, and Davies did little to calm the ill feeling in the build-up to Saturday’s game by warning that he was going to give United defender Phil Jones ‘a going over’.

Ferguson was unhappy with the challenge on Cleverley, saying: ‘It’s unfortunate but we expected it. It was a bad tackle.’

However, Davies’s wife Emma defended her husband in the face of criticism from United fans on her Twitter account, saying: ‘He would never hurt anyone on purpose… these people don’t know him. He was shaken when I told him about cleverly.’

Injury: Patrice Evra (right) is a doubt for United's Champions League clash

And Bolton manager Owen Coyle responded to questions about the incident by making a pointed reference to Stuart Holden who has not played since suffering a serious knee injury in a challenge with United’s Jonny Evans at Old Trafford in March.

‘I cannot recall the challenge,’ said Coyle. ‘But the nature of the league … I hope he is not injured because he is an outstanding young player, but we know from our injuries – like Stuart Holden last season – you don’t want anyone injured.’

The incident cast a shadow over a 5-0 win for United that saw Wayne Rooney become only the fourth player to score back-to-back hat-tricks in Premier League history.

It came almost a year to the day that Ferguson dropped Rooney for the trip to Everton amid sex allegations against the England striker.

Evra said: ‘Last season he had some problems but now he’s back. Everyone thinks if they have a problem, the first thing they want to do is play football and enjoy themselves. This is what he’s done. He wants to be the best player in the world.’

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