Ferdinand may not have broken toe

Rio Ferdinand looks to have escaped the curse of the metatarsal after a scan revealed no "conclusive evidence" of a fracture.

The Manchester United defender will have an injury to his little toe reassessed on Monday, but he has not yet been withdrawn from the England squad to play Andorra on Saturday and travel to Macedonia the following Wednesday. Ferdinand injured the little toe of his right foot during United's 2-1 win at Watford yesterday.

A United spokesman said Ferdinand has bruising to the toe but added: "There is no conclusive evidence of a fracture."

Ferdinand remains a major doubt for the first two games of England's Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, the first competitive games of head coach Steve McClaren's reign.

It now looks however that the central defender will not suffer six to eight weeks on the sidelines - the normal period taken to recover from a broken metatarsal - and the injury a number of England players have suffered including Wayne Rooney before the World Cup.