Ferguson in market for central defender

ALEX FERGUSON’S search for an experienced central defender to bolster his side’s Champions League challenge has been given fresh urgency by the latest injury setback for luckless defender Wes Brown.

Confirmation that the 23-year-old England international ruptured cruciate ligaments in his left knee during Sunday’s 2-1 win at Everton means that Ferguson can write Brown out of his plans at least until Christmas and probably beyond.

It took the Manchester-born player a full 12 months to return from the similar injury he sustained in his right knee during an innocuous training ground incident in August 1999, since when he has suffered a succession of fitness problems to the despair of his manager, who rates Brown as one of the best defenders in the country.