Updated

Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez will miss the next four weeks after sustaining an ankle injury.

The Mexico international suffered the blow in the opening minutes of United's 1-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday, and tests have revealed that Hernandez has damaged ankle ligaments.

"I think it is torn ligaments in the ankle and he'll be out for four weeks," United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said following the match. "We are having a bad time with injuries at the moment but that is why we have a strong squad."

Michael Owen, Tom Cleverley, Anderson, Fabio and Rafael are already out of the lineup because of injury, but Ferguson could see the return of Dimitar Berbatov, while Danny Welbeck featured as a substitute against Villa after recovering from his own injury.

Hernandez has scored six goals in 13 league appearances this season, but he will now miss Wednesday's Champions League match with FC Basel as well as league fixtures against Wolverhampton, QPR, Fulham, Wigan and Blackburn.