United will be without Gabriel Heinze, Nemanja Vidic and
new signing Michael Carrick for their season opener with Fulham on
Sunday, but Wayne Rooney has been passed fit to play after
overcoming a groin strain.
Carrick is set to resume training next week after making good
progress since injuring his ankle in only his second match for the
Reds.
Vidic is still recovering from the knee injury which ended his
World Cup, although he is also expected to return to training in
the coming days.
Heinze, meanwhile, is likely to miss the next three weeks after Sir
Alex Ferguson revealed that the Argentine is still feeling the
effects of the cruciate ligament damage he suffered11 months
ago.
Despite representing his country at the World Cup, Sir Alex says
Heinze still needs to build up his muscle strength.
"It's not quite what it should be," explained the United boss.
"Gabby's therefore going to do some work in the gym over the next
three weeks to build up the quadriceps.
"He did very well to get himself fit enough to take part in the
World Cup after being out for so long, but I think he stretched
himself and the consequences are he's not fully ready for
us."
Sir Alex is determined to get to the 2006/07 campaign of to a
winning start, but believes the Reds face a stern test against
Chris Coleman's side.
"I think Fulham will have a go on Sunday because they've got a
great philosophy under Chris Coleman," explained the boss. "They
have good height in their team which could be a problem for
us.
"Their front two [McBride and Helguson] in particular are very good
headers of the ball so they have a threat goal-wise. But hopefully
we'll be ready."
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