Owen Hargreaves, Manchester United's injury-plagued midfielder, has suffered another setback after being pulled out of his comeback match in a move that significantly damages his already slender and rapidly diminishing hopes of a late call-up to England's World Cup squad.

Nineteen months since he was last seen on the pitch at Old Trafford, Hargreaves was due to play in a reserve game against Manchester City at Altrincham tonight, and had been encouraged by noises emanating from the Football Association that Fabio Capello still regards him as a possible contender to be involved in South Africa this summer, provided he can prove his match fitness in the meantime.

The 29-year-old has not played since September 2008 because of a knee problem that the world-renowned specialist Richard Steadman described as the worst he had seen from 35 years of working in the medical profession. Hargreaves has been suffering from chronic patellar tendinitis and needed operations on both knees, having made only 25 starts since signing from Bayern Munich for £18m, despite having the problem at the time of the transfer.

Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, said last Friday that Hargreaves had been training with the first team and was "pencilled in" to play for the reserves, but the club confirmed after last night's 4-0 defeat of Milan that the player would not be included in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's squad. United say his withdrawal is because the match does not fit into the player's fitness programme.