Giggs misses out, but Vidic is fit

Ryan Giggs will sit out United's trip to Fulham on Saturday, but Nemanja Vidic is available after overcoming a calf strain.

The Serbian defender was withdrawn after 72 minutes of last weekend's win at Newcastle, but he trained on Friday and is fit for the clash at Craven Cottage.

United will not take a chance on Giggs, however, after he too picked up a calf strain. "Ryan is our one doubt. He’s got a calf strain and I don’t think he’ll make it,” said the Reds boss. "Other than that everyone is fit.

"There is no need to risk Ryan," Sir Alex added at his pre-match press conference. "It's nothing serious and we have a strong enough squad [to cope]. We've got an important game against Lyon on Tuesday, so hopefully he'll be ready for that."

Meanwhile, Gary Neville has suffered no effects from his 60-minute Reserves run-out on Tuesday night. The skipper trained on Thursday and Friday and will continue his fitness programme over the weekend instead of travelling with the team to London.

Mikael Silvestre, who has not played for the Reds since damaging knee ligaments in the win at Everton in September, is also close to making a comeback. "Mikael may join the first-team in full training at the end of next week," says the boss. "Hopefully by the end of March we should have a complete, and fully fit, squad."

The confirmation of Neville and Silvestre's good progress comes at the end of a week which brought news of goalkeeper Ben Foster's impending return from a cruciate knee ligament operation in the summer. Sir Alex says Foster, who is yet to make a competitive appearance for the Reds, is in contention for the Reserves' home clash with Middlesbrough next Thursday.