TNT Sports
United under pressure
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Published 26/09/2005 at 17:53 GMT+1
With Wayne Rooney's two-match ban still hanging in the air like a bad smell of immaturity, the question on the lips of a very perturbed Manchester United faithful is what will be manager Sir Alex Ferguson's next move in order to restore their winning way.
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Choices are becoming few and far between for the great Scott with the absence of Gary Neville (groin), Gabriel Heinze (knee), Wes Brown (thigh), Quinton Fortune (knee) and United stalwart Roy Keane ahead of Tuesday's European clash with Portugese outfit Benfica.
Ferguson will now be weighing up his attacking options in the form of both South Korean Park Ji-Sung and veteran reds winger Ryan Giggs and also relying on the hunting capacities of the Dutch hitman Ruud van Nistelrooy.
The United boss stands firm though saying " In Ruud van Nistelrooy and Paul Scholes we have two of the best finishers in the game and hopefully we can create chances for them, if we can do that we will be all right".
However, the problems at the rear with a cluster of injuries is causing more serious worries "We are waiting on John O'Shea who took a knock in the Blackburn game," Ferguson said "There's no doubt we are better off in the forwards than the backs at the moment but we will cope."
After a shock defeat on home soil last weekend against mid-table Blackburn Rovers (1-2) the fans were far from happy with their players' performances and booed them off the pitch.
The loss left Man Utd ten points off first-placed Chelsea and will be certainly feeling the pressure to pull something special out of the bag on Tuesday night and give the team a new air of confidence.
However Ferguson firmly stamped out any doubt about his players' comeback using the European stage "A European night at Old Trafford is always a special occasion and I'm sure the support will be great" he told reporters.
"Of course we don't like losing games but we have to do something about it and we will do tomorrow night," he added.
Ferguson will be hoping for a repeat of the 1968 European Cup final where United won 4-1, but with an injury-riddled United and the talented Rooney in the stands, hope will not be good enough.
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