Carrick sidelined by broken elbow

Carrick joins Owen Hargreaves on the sidelines

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick will be out of action for up to six weeks with a fractured right elbow.

The injury also means the 26-year-old will miss England's crucial upcoming Euro 2008 qualifying games against Estonia and Russia.

He suffered the injury during the latter stages of United's Champions League victory over Roma on Tuesday.

Carrick appeared fine immediately after the game, but X-rays have revealed the full extent of the problem.

He will probably be missing until the trip to Bolton on 24 November, which means he is likely to miss five Premier League matches as well as United's two Champions League ties against Dynamo Kiev.

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The injury leaves United boss Sir Alex Ferguson facing a selection headache for Saturday's encounter with Wigan, with Owen Hargreaves already ruled out.

Midfielder Hargreaves will be out of action for up to four weeks with a knee injury.

With Darren Fletcher also sidelined with a knee injury it leaves only Paul Scholes as the only fit recognised central midfielder.

Brazilian Anderson is capable of playing in central midfield but a more likely alternative could be John O'Shea, who himself is only just back playing following a knee injury.

As well as the Estonia and Russia games, Carrick is almost certainly out of England's friendly in Austria on 16 November and the final Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia five days later.