Fergie Feeling The Heat

Manchester United's injury concerns reached crisis levels on Saturday when Fabio, Danny Welbeck and Cristiano Ronaldo limped out of the action early. It takes the Champions' sidelined total to 12 senior players, with Edwin van der Sar possibly becoming a 13th as Ferguson insists on giving the experienced goalkeeper an extended rest period.

This comes just as news filters through that United's match with Everton has been brough forward 48 hours, and will be played at Saturday teatime instead, due to the Merseysiders' FA Cup replay with Liverpool. Ferguson will be genuinely worried about the effects of this massive fixture pile-up for his side, with games such as the Super Cup back in August, the World Championships in December, not to mention the travelling to and from Japan, the prolonged run in the Carling Cup which has seen them reach the final, and their ongoing involvement in the FA Cup and Champions League.

Looking at United's squad, it would seem they are the only side in the country that could cope with such demanding circumstances. However these latest injury additions has forced Fergie into playing the "false sense of security" card to his title rivals. On Monday, the Scot said that United will slip up somewhere along the line, that's inevitable. And with the current injury crisis, he wouldn't be far wrong. From United's 12 injured players, and the rested Van Der Sar, you could put together a very strong first XI:

Goalkeeper: Van der Sar
Defence: Brown, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra
Midfield: Ronaldo, Hargreaves, Anderson, Park
Strikers: Rooney, Welbeck
Substitutes: Rafael/Fabio

And this is the side that is likely to be put out against West Brom tonight:

Goalkeeper: Foster/Van der Sar
Defence: Fletcher, Vidic, Neville, O'Shea
Midfield: Nani, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs
Strikers: Tevez, Berbatov

There is a case that the former side would possibly be better suited to a trip to the Hawthorns, but still with 12 players injured United can put out what seems to be a very strong side. Will they slip up along the way? Probably. But the smart money is still certainly on Ferguson's men, especially with Liverpool and Chelsea not exactly in convincing form themselves.