Sir Alex Ferguson has ruled Louis Saha out of his immediate plans and says the striker will be out of action until the New Year.

Ferguson does not want to rush the striker back and is keen to give him plenty of time to recover from damaged knee ligaments.

"It will be late December, or New Year before Louis comes back," said the Manchester United boss. "He has been very unlucky."

Saha, who joined United from Fulham during last January's transfer window, has been plagued by problems since the summer.

He missed the club's pre-season trip to America then the opening four games of the new campaign and after making his comeback at the end of August, was injured while on international duty with France.

The £12.8m signing has made only 15 starts in all competitions since his move to Old Trafford with his latest setback coming when he was again injured playing for his country two weeks ago.

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