Saha set for bench place
Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Louis Saha could be on the bench for Sunday's must-win clash with Tottenham at Old Trafford.
The French striker has not played since the Champions League semi-final defeat to AC Milan on 2 May because of a knee complaint which resulted in surgery over the summer.
Saha has now completed two full weeks' training and is in contention for a spot on the subs' bench this weekend.
"With Louis Saha weÂ’re hoping we can get him on the bench, but it depends on how he comes through training on Friday and Saturday," admitted Sir Alex Ferguson at his pre-match press conference.
"Nevertheless, we are hopeful, heÂ’s done very well in the last two weeks. There is some light at the end of the tunnel there.
"He is an out-and-out front player," added the boss. "He has pace and power and at the start of last season he got close to fifteen goals. If he had continued playing all season he could have hit 30. So that was a big loss for us in the second half of the season.
"We just never got him back on the field with the combination of his hamstring and knee injuries. But he has been doing well in training in the last two weeks and if he does come back then it is a big boost."
Meanwhile, a scan has shown there is no damage to Edwin van der Sar's foot meaning the Dutchman is fit to start Sunday's game. The 36-year-old goalkeeper picked up a knock in training whilst on international duty for Holland earlier this week, but Sir Alex confirmed his No.1 stopper is okay.
There was more good news for the Reds after confirmation that both Owen Hargreaves and Anderson are fit. Hargreaves sat out England's friendly defeat to Germany because of tendonitis, while Anderson missed last weekend's derby loss with a hamstring strain. However, both are available for Sunday, with Hargreaves likely to start.
Gary Neville's bad luck continues with the news that he will be out of action for a further two weeks after picking up a thigh injury in training last week.
The Reds' defender has been missing since the middle of March after initially injuring his ankle. An operation followed in May from which he made a full recovery. But in doing so, he suffered a calf strain, before picking up his latest knock much to his and Sir Alex's frustration.
"Gary trained this week but he got a thigh strain, which will rule him out on Sunday," confirmed the boss. "ItÂ’s a kicking strain and I think heÂ’s just overdone it a little bit.
"ItÂ’s a frustrating one. He did a bit of extra work after training and picked up a small thigh injury. It will probably keep him out for two weeks. ItÂ’s frustrating because heÂ’s been doing so well in training."
oh.... so he is classified as a bench warmer by SAF