Reds freshen up for City
Sir Alex Ferguson has no new injury concerns ahead of Saturday's Manchester derby at Eastlands, but will attempt to freshen up his side for the lunchtime clash by recalling four players.
Rio Ferdinand, Louis Saha and Alan Smith, were all on the bench for Wednesday's Champions League semi-final defeat to Milan.
Ferdinand, who had been suffering from a groin strain, was not risked. But, having recovered from a troublesome hamstring injury, Saha played the final thirteen minutes of the match.
Patrice Evra is available again after the French defender missed the trip to Italy through suspension, while Alan Smith is fully fit and ready if called upon.
“There are no injuries from Wednesday night’s game,” confirmed the boss on Friday. “The first thing I have got to do is the freshness I can apply to the team on Saturday. European games take it out of you, and with the City match being a 12:45 kick-off, we certainly have considerations to make.
"But, for the first time in a few weeks we have got options. There are some players available for the game, like Rio Ferdinand, Louis Saha, Alan Smith and Patrice Evra, who was suspended on Wednesday.
“It’s difficult to assess how players react after the midweek game, but the fact that it’s a derby game means we have to work out what to do, because all the players will want to play. I’m sure that Giggsy, Scholesy and all the players who have played in derby games before will want to play in it.”
Sir Alex is confident his players will not suffer from a Champions League hangover following defeat to Milan in midweek.
“Some of them have experienced European defeats before,” he said. “That’s the nature of football, sometimes you have to recover from defeats. In my time here, we have done that very well.
“No-one likes to lose, especially in a semi final tie, but we’re face with a derby game where City will want to get one over on us and prevent us from winning the league. These are all things that make it a big incentive for us.”