Man United have defensive injury 'nightmare'

Updated: 09 May, 2009 • 0 • min read

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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted he is facing mounting defensive concerns ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Inter Milan.

The reigning champions are already without Serbian defender Nemanja Vidić, who is suspended for the match, and were handed further bad news as they lost another defender this weekend.

Jonny Evans limped off the field during a 2-1 victory over Blackburn on Saturday and is rated as "very doubtful" for the trip to Italy.

Evans joins fellow defenders Gary Neville and Wes Brown on the sidelines, whilst John O’Shea remains a doubt with a heel injury.

To compound matters, 20-year-old reserve team defender James Chester, United’s only other fit centre half, has not been included in their Champions League squad and so cannot be called upon.

That leaves Ferguson with a problem as to who will partner Rio Ferdinand in the heart of their defence and the United boss admitted it was giving him a headache.

He told the Sunday Mirror: "We've got some injury issues of course and I just hope we can get two centre-backs out there on Tuesday.

"At this moment in time, it's very doubtful. Jonny Evans is unlikely to be playing, he's looking very doubtful and I'm just hoping to have John O'Shea available because we don't have Gary Neville and we don't have Wes Brown.

"We're having a nightmare with defenders this season. Hopefully we can patch it up with Tuesday because this does leave us very, very short."

Evans will undergo tests on Sunday to determine the extent of the injury, but if he or O’Shea fail to recover in time, Ferguson will have no option but to play someone out of position as a central defender.

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