MANCHESTER, United Kingdom (AFP) - Manchester United midfielder Daley Blind's knee ligament injury is not as bad as first feared, but he still faces a "long" lay-off, manager Louis van Gaal revealed on Thursday.

Blind, 24, hobbled off during the first half of Holland's 6-0 defeat of Latvia on Sunday after injuring himself in a tangle with opposition forward Eduards Visnakovs.

Holland coach Guus Hiddink, who succeeded Van Gaal after the World Cup, initially suggested Blind would be out for around six weeks, and Van Gaal said the full extent of the injury had yet to be determined.

"He is not ready to play. He has now a brace on his knee - 10 days' rest, and then we'll have another scan and say more about his injury," Van Gaal told his weekly press conference at United's Carrington training base.

"It's not as bad as the doctors thought after the match, but it shall be a long story, I believe. But not six months or something like that."