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Duplicate of a post I made on injury thread:

Rio Ferdinand out to early September:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 852258.stm

But contrary to earlier stories, World Cup players set to start season:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... ayers.html

First Team Squad (taken from wiki)
Goalkeepers
1 Edwin van der Sar
29 Tomasz Kuszczak
40 Ben Amos
Defenders
2 Gary Neville
3 Patrice Evra
5 Rio Ferdinand
6 Wes Brown
15 Nemanja Vidic
20 Fábio
21 Rafael
22 John O'Shea
23 Jonny Evans
30 Ritchie De Laet
37 Craig Cathcart
44 Joe Dudgeon
45 Oliver Gill
— Chris Smalling
Midfielders
4 Owen Hargreaves
8 Anderson
11 Ryan Giggs
13 Park Ji-Sung
16 Michael Carrick
17 Nani
18 Paul Scholes
24 Darren Fletcher
25 Antonio Valencia
28 Darron Gibson
31 Corry Evans
35 Tom Cleverley
42 Magnus Wolff Eikrem
47 Oliver Norwood
Strikers
7 Michael Owen
9 Dimitar Berbatov
10 Wayne Rooney
19 Danny Welbeck
26 Gabriel Obertan
27 Federico Macheda
32 Mame Biram Diouf
41 Joshua King
— Javier Hernández

Evra to miss start of season: http://www.football365.com/story/0,1703 ... 91,00.html

Cleverley staying with United
Sir Alex Ferguson believes Tom Cleverley has a lot to offer Manchester United this season, which is why he's keeping hold of him.
The 20-year-old striker caught the eye of both Wigan and Newcastle following a string of solid displays in attack for Watford last term.
He spent a decent spell on loan with the Hornets, notching 11 goals in 33 appearances which saw him awarded the club's player of the year prize.
Cleverley has since impressed on United's tour of North America which has further encouraged Ferguson to keep him at Old Trafford for the upcoming campaign.
....
Cleverley will, at the very least, be good back-up for Darron Gibson who has done well so far in the squad.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 50,00.html

To add numbers to names (Mon 2 Aug post):

12 Chris Smalling
14 Javier 'Chicharito' Hernández

Plus two more midfielders in current first team squad, as listed on ManUtd.com:

43 Matthew James
46 Cameron Stewart

43 Matthew James...currently on a season long loan to Preston North End

Carrick facing three weeks out
Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Michael Carrick is set to miss three weeks with an Achilles injury.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 08,00.html

Nani ruled out of City clash
Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Nani will miss the Manchester derby at Eastlands.
The winger missed Saturday's 2-1 home Premier League victory against Wolves with a groin injury and is unlikely to face rivals City on Wednesday night.
........
However, there was some good news for the United boss who expects Berbatov to be back in training on Monday.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 82,00.html

Plenty of Reds were in international action this week, although Nani and Federico Macheda are likely to return to Carrington sporting the biggest smiles.

Nani played 88 minutes in Portugal’s 4-0 rout of world champions Spain, while Macheda netted both goals in Italy Under-21s’ 2-1 win over Turkey.

There was no fairytale England debut for Chris Smalling at Wembley on Wednesday night – he was an unused substitute in England’s 2-1 defeat against France – although Rio Ferdinand played 45 minutes. The England captain came off at half-time, though, complaining of a tight hamstring. On his Twitter page, Ferdinand said there was nothing to worry about and labelled his substitution “precautionary”.

John O’Shea played 90 minutes in Ireland’s 2-1 loss to Norway and Jonny Evans, who’s not featured for the Reds since 26 October, also completed the entire match as Northern Ireland drew 1-1 with Morocco.

Nemanja Vidic played 66 minutes of Serbia’s 1-0 win against Bulgaria, while Darren Fletcher experienced a similar amount of action on Tuesday evening as Scotland beat Faroe Islands 3-0.

Gabriel Obertan featured for 45 minutes in France Under-21’s 1-0 loss to Russia on Tuesday.

Rooney set for comeback
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that striker Wayne Rooney "may be on the bench" for Saturday's Premier League match against Wigan.
.......
"I don't think he'll start tomorrow," Ferguson told radio station Key 103.
"Maybe he will reach the bench. But he will certainly play on Wednesday against Rangers."
Ferguson also has doubts over Ryan Giggs and Rafael as United look to close the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 32,00.html

Rio due to be rested from tonight's match with Stoke

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/01/04/2289775/rio-ferdinand-to-be-rested-for-manchester-uniteds-league-tie

Rooney unlikely to start tonight either

http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2011/01/03/2287722/manchester-united-striker-wayne-rooney-to-miss-stoke-city
And Macheda on his way to Sampdoria on loan

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/sport-news/football-news/2011/01/04/manchester-united-s-federico-macheda-closing-in-on-sampdoria-loan-55578-27933601/

From MUFC site:

Sir Alex says he will be taking a strong squad to St Mary’s for the FA Cup fourth round tie against Southampton this Saturday despite being without a handful of first team regulars.

Edwin van der Sar has been given the weekend off, while Patrice Evra (family bereavement) and Rafael (concussion) will not be travelling. Michael Carrick, who has been struggling with an ankle injury, is expected to be available providing he comes through training on Friday. Sir Alex has a decision to make on who takes over in goal for the Reds with new signing Anders Lindegaard and Tomasz Kuszczak both vying for a starting spot.

Vidic is set to captain Serbia against Estonia in Tallinn on Tuesday, just two weeks after suffering the calf strain that had left the purple-faced bullshitter concerned about the defender’s prospects of facing West Ham at Upton Park on Saturday.

Vidic had initially been omitted from Vladimir Petrovic’s squad for the Euro 2012 qualifying double-header against Northern Ireland and Estonia. But the centre-half underwent intensive treatment at United’s Carrington training ground last week before flying to Belgrade in time to watch the 2-1 victory over Northern Ireland last Friday.

Vidic trained with his Serbian team-mates on Saturday before flying to snowbound Estonia on Sunday, where Petrovic declared the 29 year-old fit to play.

Petrovic said: “Vidic is with us again and he is ready to play from the beginning. My only concern is about the condition of the pitch because it is a winter’s landscape.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... erbia.html