Wayne Rooney is fit to face Sunderland on Saturday and
Rio Ferdinand is back in training ahead of the trip to the North
East.
The England internationals could both be involved at The Stadium
of Light if Sir Alex Ferguson decides to gamble on the fitness of
key defender Ferdinand, even though the early indications are that
the game will come too soon for him.
With Jonny Evans out with an ankle injury, the United boss is
likely to give Ferdinand every chance to feature on Wearside, with
Gary Neville or John O'Shea alternative options as partners for
Nemanja Vidic.
However, the midweek trip to Portugal may turn out to be a more
realistic target for the centre back's comeback as Ferguson does
not want to risk aggravating the groin injury.
"I don't think they'll be fit," said Ferguson of Evans and
Ferdinand. "We'tr ying our best but, in which case, John O'Shea
will play centre back and Gary Neville at right back.
"Rio's started to run today and hopefully we'll get him ready
for Wednesday's game.
"Rafael has started training this week, on Tuesday, and he needs
a few days' training but he will be available for next Saturday.
That's some good news. Wes Brown is not far away. He'll start
football training next week. We need these defenders back as
they'll make a hell of a difference to us, no question.
"In these situations, we want our experienced players playing
all the time. Unfortunately, we didn't have that with Vidic's
suspension and Rio and Gary have been injured. A collection of
players like that coming back will be good for us."
Dimitar Berbatov could be back in time from his ankle problem in
time to face Porto in what is almost certainly a must-win game in
the Champions League but his absence is offset this weekend by
Rooney's availability.
The former Everton attacker was dealt a painful blow by the ball
on Tuesday night but has been passed fit to lead the line against
Ricky Sbragia's struggling Black Cats.