Ferguson: Brown 'bullish' on recovery

Alex Ferguson is confident Wes Brown has the mental strength to recover from the shattering blow of a second ruptured cruciate knee ligament injury.

The 23-year-old defender is expected to be out of action until Christmas at least after catching his studs in the turf during the last match of United’s title-winning season at Everton on May 11.

At first, United officials thought the problem was not too severe and Brown was able to join in the after-match trophy celebrations at Goodison Park and attend a players’ party later the same evening, albeit with the aid of crutches.

However, the England international’s worst fears were confirmed last week and he now faces another lengthy stint on the sidelines, yet another disruption to his injury-ravaged career.

Brown missed the entire 1999-2000 season after suffering a similar problem in his right knee and was then out for four months of the 2001-02 campaign with a combination of knee and ankle problems.

If that was not bad enough, the Manchester-born player then broke his ankle just five minutes into the opening game against Zalaegerszeg this term, ruling him out until the middle of November.

To his credit, Brown has responded to all his setbacks and emerged as a defensive rock at both centre-half and full-back as United leapfrogged Arsenal to land their eighth Premiership crown.

And Ferguson believes Brown, who will work with the same doctor who treated his first cruciate problem rather than attend the Colorado-based Vail Clinic which successfully treated Ruud van Nistelrooy and Roy Keane for the same injury, has the force of personality to recover again.

“I have had a few chats with him since and he is quite bullish about it now,” Ferguson told the Manchester Evening News.

“Wes has shown the kind of mental strength that encourages you. It is a tragedy for him but the one chink of light is that these operations are not the terrors they were years ago.

“The recovery rate is much better now and nobody knows that better than Wes himself. He has shown he has the mettle to get on with it and cope with it. I am very hopeful and confident he’ll be back as good as ever.”

Meanwhile, Ferguson has confirmed he has “ideas” in his mind over who to bring to Old Trafford during the close season.

A number of big-money moves have been mooted over the past few weeks, including Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldinho, left-sided duo Harry Kewell and Damien Duff, plus a host of candidates to replace out-of-favour goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.

There has also been talk of less high-profile signings in the form of Rennes full-back Julien Escude and Sunderland’s out-of-contract striker David Bellion, although Ferguson has refused to publicly declare his hand.

With Brown ruled out for almost half the season already and Laurent Blanc and David May both leaving this summer, defensive reinforcements are almost certain as Ferguson continues the quest to land United’s third European Cup.

“We are only talking about small details and we are not too far away but as a club we have only won the European Cup twice and we have to do better than that,” he said.

“There won’t be massive dealings this summer, maybe just two or three, but we have our ideas and hopefully we will pursue them. The key is to strengthen when you are strong.”