Defensive injury blow for Reds

The Reds have some defensive injury concerns ahead of AS Roma's visit to Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Edwin van der Sar had already been ruled out with a toe injury, he is now expected to miss the next "couple of weeks". Just as worringly, Sir Alex Ferguson is waiting anxiously to learn of the fitness of Nemanja Vidic and Wes Brown, who both picked up knocks during the 1-0 win over Birmingham City on Saturday.

"They are both doubts," he said at his pre-match press conference. "We'll have to wait on them. Neither trained Monday morning, and you don't really want players missing training the day before games. It will be difficult for us [if they don't play]."

With Gary Neville still out, Sir Alex will call on John O'Shea at right-back, while Vidic would be replaced by 20-year-old Spanish defender Gerard Pique.

The Reds could, however, be boosted by the return of midfielder Owen Hargreaves. The 26-year-old trained on Monday and is rated as a “possibility” by Sir Alex. The United boss did admit that he would have preferred Hargreaves, who hasn’t played since the start of September, to have more playing time under his belt.

“Owen trained on Monday with the team. He’s a possibility,” added Sir Alex. “I’d like him to have had some more football ahead of what is an important game. European football is a different game of course, in terms of speed and tactics. But we’ll see.”

But given the absence of van der Sar’s wealthy experience and the potential lack of Vidic and Brown – both outstanding so far this season – the manager may be tempted to throw Hargreaves into action to protect United’s back four.