Manchester United: Bastian Schweinsteiger ruled out for a further month with knee injury

Manchester United have suffered a major injury blow ahead of a crucial month of fixtures as Bastian Schweinsteiger has been ruled out for a further month due to the knee injury he suffered during the Red Devils' 1-0 win over Sheffield United at the beginning of the month. The German midfielder is expected to miss crunch clashes against Chelsea and Arsenal on 7 & 28 February respectively along with the Europa League home and away clashes against FC Midtjylland.

According to German television channel Sport 1, the midfielder will return only at the end of February after failing to recover from the knee injury he suffered earlier in the month. The report claims that sources within the German football federation (DFB) have diagnosed the injury to be worse than first feared.

Louis van Gaal had expected the midfielder to return to action by the end of the month, but revealed ahead of their FA Cup tie against Derby County, which they won 3-1, that he was unsure about the exact return date for the former Bayern Munich midfielder.

"I cannot say (if Schweinsteiger and Jones are close) because every time I make a remark about injuries it is always difficult because injuries have developments and you have to wait and see," the Dutch manager told MUTV. "Also they have to train and be adapted to the rhythm of the Premier League which is high. When you are more weeks injured it takes more time to adapt to that rhythm," Van Gaal added.

Marouane Fellaini, meanwhile, was delighted following United's win over Derby on Friday (29 January) and is hoping that the confidence boost will help them in upcoming Premier League clashes against Stoke City and Chelsea in the coming week.

"We did well [against Derby]. We created a lot of chances and that is good for the confidence. The passing was quick and we played forward so I think we will keep going like that," Fellaini said, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News.