Saha set for bench place
Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Louis Saha could be on the
bench for Sunday's must-win clash with Tottenham at Old
Trafford.
The French striker has not played since the Champions League
semi-final defeat to AC Milan on 2 May because of a knee complaint
which resulted in surgery over the summer.
Saha has now completed two full weeks' training and is in
contention for a spot on the subs' bench this weekend.
"With Louis Saha were hoping we can get him on the bench, but it
depends on how he comes through training on Friday and Saturday,"
admitted Sir Alex Ferguson at his pre-match press conference.
"Nevertheless, we are hopeful, hes done very well in the last two
weeks. There is some light at the end of the tunnel there.
"He is an out-and-out front player," added the boss. "He has pace
and power and at the start of last season he got close to fifteen
goals. If he had continued playing all season he could have hit 30.
So that was a big loss for us in the second half of the
season.
"We just never got him back on the field with the combination of
his hamstring and knee injuries. But he has been doing well in
training in the last two weeks and if he does come back then it is
a big boost."
Meanwhile, a scan has shown there is no damage to Edwin van der
Sar's foot meaning the Dutchman is fit to start Sunday's game. The
36-year-old goalkeeper picked up a knock in training whilst on
international duty for Holland earlier this week, but Sir Alex
confirmed his No.1 stopper is okay.
There was more good news for the Reds after confirmation that both
Owen Hargreaves and Anderson are fit. Hargreaves sat out England's
friendly defeat to Germany because of tendonitis, while Anderson
missed last weekend's derby loss with a hamstring strain. However,
both are available for Sunday, with Hargreaves likely to
start.
Gary Neville's bad luck continues with the news that he will be out
of action for a further two weeks after picking up a thigh injury
in training last week.
The Reds' defender has been missing since the middle of March after
initially injuring his ankle. An operation followed in May from
which he made a full recovery. But in doing so, he suffered a calf
strain, before picking up his latest knock much to his and Sir
Alex's frustration.
"Gary trained this week but he got a thigh strain, which will rule
him out on Sunday," confirmed the boss. "Its a kicking strain and
I think hes just overdone it a little bit.
"Its a frustrating one. He did a bit of extra work after training
and picked up a small thigh injury. It will probably keep him out
for two weeks. Its frustrating because hes been doing so well in
training."