Sir Alex Ferguson has a full squad to choose from for
Sunday's game against Fulham - barring long-term absentees Rio
Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves - with the added bonus that Anderson
has returned to football training.
"Everyone is fit from Monday night's game," the boss said. "Evra
got a knock when he went down by the advertising boards, but I'm
sure he'll be OK. The good news is that Anderson started football
training yesterday. We're pleased with that."
However, the Reds are still waiting on the return of Rio Ferdinand.
"I still think Rio won't be back until the end of
September," added Sir Alex. "At the time Steve McNally,
the club doctor, said September. We’re quite near the mark.
"It was a knee ligament injury. Not the cruciate, it was medial
ligaments. It was a freak training ground accident at the World
Cup. It was nothing to do with his back, which was a problem for
him last season. But I think he should be back late
September."
Sir Alex again has some tough decisions to make for his squad for
Sunday's visit to Craven Cottage. Against Newcastle, the boss left
out Michael Owen altogether, while Michael Carrick was on the
bench.
"I had some difficulty picking the squad on Monday night because of
game time the likes of Owen, Rooney, Valencia, Nani and Carrick
have had," the boss explained. "They have not had the minutes they
require to be anywhere near their peak match fitness. With a week’s
training behind them now, I think they will be much better for
Sunday."
The match sharpness for some of those players is having to be done
on the job, rather than in pre-season work, so Sir Alex thinks by
next month the Reds should be reaching peak ftness.
"Wayne Rooney had only had half an hour’s competitive play
before Monday, Michael Owen the same. Michael Carrick hadn’t played
much, Nani and Valencia both only had a couple of games behind
them. That’s not a lot before you start your full programme at the
start of the season," he said.
"Players like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Jonny Evans and John
O'Shea, and the other players on the tour, have played plenty of
football. They’ve had games, so their fitness is not a
problem."
The United boss expressed a desire for his strikers to be more
clinical in front of goal. But he has been pleased by the recent
performances of Dimitar Berbatov, while he is not concerned by the
fact that Rooney has not scored in 13 matches for club and
country, stretching back to March earlier this year when he
struck against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
"Strikers live by their goals," said the boss, himself a former
marksman, of course. "When the goals don’t come, they wonder
when they’re going to score next. When they’re scoring, they never
think it’s going to end. That’s what it’s about being a
striker.
"But Dimitar Berbatov got his game-time in America. He got the
games he needed in pre-season, so his fitness is assured. There’s
no problem with that. He was excellent on Monday. He could have
scored three or four goals, but it was a very good
performance."