Defensive concerns ease for United

Manchester United FC will be without Gary Neville for two weeks but fellow right-back John O'Shea could be back in action a lot sooner after both men hobbled out of Wednesday's 2-0 victory over Portsmouth FC.

Worries eased
Neville lasted just 13 minutes at Old Trafford before being forced off with a right foot problem, and his replacement, O'Shea, fared little better as he made way for Rafael soon after half-time. Initially, Sir Alex Ferguson thought both would be "out for weeks", but he revised his assessment on the eve of Saturday's Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur FC, with Neville expected to be out for a fortnight. As for the Republic of Ireland international, Sir Alex said: "O'Shea's injury isn't as bad as we thought. We sent him for a scan and it came back all clear. He actually did jogging on Friday, which is good. We were surprised because when it happened I thought it was a bad one. Fortunately, it's not serious."

Rafael ready
Rafael will deputise on Saturday, though the right-back position remains problematic, with the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final against Arsenal FC looming on 29 April. Rafael has himself only recently returned from an ankle injury, while last season's first choice right-back Wes Brown has been unavailable for most of the campaign because of a problem in the same area. He did, however, play an hour for United's reserves against Preston North End FC on Monday. In that game, Sir Alex said Brown "did OK – it's a bit early for him to start, but it's good that he's back". The win against Portsmouth restored United to the Premier League summit, with the Red Devils three points above Liverpool FC with a game in hand.

Ferdinand fit
The United manager also eased fears over Rio Ferdinand – who is fit for Saturday after the centre-back was left out of the game against Portsmouth – following his stint in last weekend's FA Cup semi-final defeat on penalties by Everton FC. "After extra time at Wembley, we felt it was best to rest Rio," Sir Alex said. "Jonny Evans never lets us down, so we did the sensible thing in resting Rio. We have Tottenham, a European tie against Arsenal on Wednesday, a lunchtime kick-off against Middlesbrough, then Arsenal again on Tuesday. It's a run of games in which we don't take chances. Hopefully we manage the whole thing without killing ourselves in terms of playing too much."