Phil Jones fit but Ashley Young ruled out for Manchester United over festive period, reveals Sir Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed mixed injury news ahead of Manchester United's Boxing Day clash with Phil Jones set to be available but Ashley Young will be missing until January at the earliest.

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Jones was substituted in United's 5-0 win at Fulham on Wednesday night after clashing with Clint Dempsey but will be available over the festive period, while Young also limped off at Craven Cottage.

Sir Alex told reporters: "We have good news on Phil Jones: he should be okay for Monday, he has some swelling in his jaw but there's no break, no fracture, which is good news.

"We feared the worst because he lost his vision a bit in that period when he came back onto the field. Thankfully it's good news.

"It's not so good for Ashley Young. We're still waiting on some of the bleeding to go away, which is quite extensive at the moment. It was a sore one so he'll be out for a few weeks.

"Ashley was tripped as he went into the next tackle. He wasn't positioned to go into that next tackle – he was half-falling at the time.

"The second tackle was a hard tackle – not a bad tackle – it was just the way he went into Ashley. He's taken a real clump."

United are without several first-team players as they look to keep the pace with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League, but Sir Alex did reveal that Brazilian defender Rafael da Silva is closing in on a return to the side.

He continued: "There's not great news on the other ones – Michael [Owen], Tom [Cleverley] and Anderson are still on the sick list. But Rafael played in the reserves last night, which will help him.

"As we get one back, we're losing one. It's not an easy spell for us but we just have to get on with it. The squad has handled the situation quite well.

"The form has been really good and I'm pleased with that. We're scoring goals again, which is terrific."