The tactician claims that his backline will be an integral component in gaining their first UEFA Champions League win of the season.
Manchester United take on Galatasaray today at Old Trafford and although http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wayne-Rooney-c36736 is reportedly set to be on the sidelines for this one, the real test of the club and coach will be the defensive crisis they are currently facing.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nemanja-Vidic-c27550 may have returned to their normal positions in the backline but the duo are not in top form as they used to be and looked out of sorts in the last few games.
The weekend win over Wigan Athletic was the first time this season that the Red Devils managed to keep a clean sheet, but the toothless Latics were hardly any trouble for the majority of the ninety minutes.
Ferguson has had to contend with several omissions from his defensive options, with influential centre-backs http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Phil-Jones-c29903 still far away from top fitness. Both the starlets have not played a single game this season and United must count
themselves lucky because without http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-c25261 Carrick’s versatility, they could have been in a real mess.
However, the manager knows this before hand and claims that the problems can play a major role in determining the victor of the Premier League, but he was hoping that his injury woes could be cured sooner rather than later.
"At the moment with Smalling and Jones long-term, I'm left with three centre-backs, Vidic, Ferdinand and Evans. If I was guaranteed two of those being fit for the rest of the season I'd take that gladly right now. It's not been the case in the last two or
three years, when we have had a really rough ride.”
"I've had to alternate centre-backs. Go back two years ago and we had Carrick, (Darren) Fletcher and (Patrice) Evra there. That's a key issue. I can't hide that. I just hope I get a bit of luck in that respect."
The Turkish giants will look to exploit the backline that could also feature http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alexander-Büttner-c4818 after his impressive outing against Wigan. But for Smalling and Jones, the fixture comes to early and they are likely to continue to their rehabilitation on the
sidelines.
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