England international midfielder Owen Hargreaves was Tuesday ruled out of the upcoming UEFA EURO 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia after having an injection aimed at treating tendinitis in his right knee.

The problem has prevented Hargreaves from playing consecutive matches for Manchester United since his summer move from Bayern Munich and he missed England's wins over Israel and the Russians last month.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said that the decision for Hargreaves to undergo the procedure was taken after the player broke down in training on Monday, on the eve of his club's UEFA Champions League clash with Roma.

"Owen will be out for three to four weeks," Ferguson said. "It was always an option we had and he has had an injection to try and get rid of the tendinitis in his right knee. He felt it in training yesterday so we decided to get it done."