MANCHESTER, England (AFP) - England midfielder Owen Hargreaves
is set to miss Manchester United's Champions League date at Roma on
Wednesday due to a calf problem.
Hargreaves sustained the injury while warming up ahead of United's
4-1 Premier League win over bottom-of-the-table Derby County here
at Old Trafford.
United are already through to the last 32 of European football's
premier club competition and their position as group winners is
secure regardless of the result in the Italian capital.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has already made it clear that a
number of squad players will feature against Roma with Michael
Carrick, who replaced Hargreaves on Saturday, set to start again
while the former Bayern Munich midfielder receives treatment in
Manchester.
"Owen strained his calf and we can't take chances at this time of
the year. We had a look at it and we decided to bring Michael in
for the Derby game," Ferguson said.
With Roma also through to the knockout phase, Ferguson has
confirmed that reserve keeper Tomasz Kuszczak will start in Italy.
There will also be rare opportunities for Jonny Evans, Gerard
Pique, Chris Eagles and Dong Fangzhuo ahead of United's key league
game against arch-rivals Liverpool next weekend.
Ferguson is generally pleased with his side's progress this season
and added: "In some games we've played excellently and missed a lot
of chances.
"Afterwards you're saying to yourself, 'I hope we don't regret
missing these chances' but you have to be satisfied with your level
of performance because that's what's important.
"I'll play a completely different team (against Roma). They were
difficult conditions against Derby and it was a lot of exertion for
the players involved.
"I'll take a lot of the first team squad with me because I need 18
players and some of the young players aren't registered.
The Scot added: "I'll go with a completely different team and
Kuszczak will be in goal. We'll have Evans, Pique, Eagles, Carrick,
(Darren) Fletcher, Anderson, (Louis) Saha, Dong and Nani. All of
these players will play.
"It's a great opportunity for them. Roma have qualified and it's
good for both teams and they will probably play one or two younger
players themselves. I'm looking forward to it."
