Gavmundo
04-18-2007, 02:45 PM
Rio Ferdinand and John O'Shea should return for Manchester United against Middlesbrough at the weekend.
The defensive duo have been carrying slight knocks, with O'Shea missing the FA Cup win over Watford and was only on the bench for Tuesday's success against Sheffield United due to a calf injury.
Ferdinand suffered a groin complaint against Watford and sat out the 2-0 victory over The Blades as United's injury troubles mounted.
Patrice Evra was forced off in the first half, leaving midfield duo Darren Fletcher and Kieran Richardson as the full-backs for the Premiership leaders.
But, speaking after the game at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed Ferdinand and O'Shea should return against Boro on Saturday.
With Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic and Mikael Silvestre ruled out, Ferguson feels it will be a big boost to have Ferdinand and O'Shea back in his plans.
"Rio and John will be back on Saturday, so that should give us a bit more strength and experience in the back line," said Ferguson.
"We ended up with two full-backs who are midfield players.
"It was a great challenge for them, but they came through it well."
We played Evra Heinze Brown and Fletcher as defenders yesterday against Sheff Utd. Evra was injured quite early and Richardson then had to come on as a left back! The news that Ferdinand and O'Shea are back is great but I just hope there are no more Defender problems as we are looking a bit unsteady back there at the moment. Fletcher doesn't play well as a right back but the only other option is Cathcart who hasn't even played in the first team so the sooner we get players back the better. We're desperate for Vidic and Neville to return!
The defensive duo have been carrying slight knocks, with O'Shea missing the FA Cup win over Watford and was only on the bench for Tuesday's success against Sheffield United due to a calf injury.
Ferdinand suffered a groin complaint against Watford and sat out the 2-0 victory over The Blades as United's injury troubles mounted.
Patrice Evra was forced off in the first half, leaving midfield duo Darren Fletcher and Kieran Richardson as the full-backs for the Premiership leaders.
But, speaking after the game at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed Ferdinand and O'Shea should return against Boro on Saturday.
With Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic and Mikael Silvestre ruled out, Ferguson feels it will be a big boost to have Ferdinand and O'Shea back in his plans.
"Rio and John will be back on Saturday, so that should give us a bit more strength and experience in the back line," said Ferguson.
"We ended up with two full-backs who are midfield players.
"It was a great challenge for them, but they came through it well."
We played Evra Heinze Brown and Fletcher as defenders yesterday against Sheff Utd. Evra was injured quite early and Richardson then had to come on as a left back! The news that Ferdinand and O'Shea are back is great but I just hope there are no more Defender problems as we are looking a bit unsteady back there at the moment. Fletcher doesn't play well as a right back but the only other option is Cathcart who hasn't even played in the first team so the sooner we get players back the better. We're desperate for Vidic and Neville to return!