Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 863 Wed. November 01, 2006  
   
Sports


United lose trio


Manchester United trio Ryan Giggs, Louis Saha and captain Gary Neville will miss Wednesday's Champions League match against FC Copenhagen through injury.

Alex Ferguson confirmed the three players would miss the trip to the Danish capital, and added that Neville would also miss Saturday's Premiership game with Portsmouth after suffering a recurrence of a calf problem which has plagued him for much of the season so far.

Giggs could also miss Saturday's match at Old Trafford after reporting a hamstring injury, while Saha has been ruled out of United's latest European adventure with a knee problem.

There was some good news for Ferguson, with French full-back Patrice Evra reporting fit despite limping out of the weekend win over Bolton with an ankle injury.

However, the triple injury blow did mean the introduction of teenage defender Kieran Lee, scorer of the extra-time Carling Cup winner against Crewe last week, for his first European trip.

"We had a tough game at Bolton on Saturday and we have another Saturday match this week, which doesn't make it any easier for us in terms of the injury situation," said Ferguson.

"But we do have players like Wes Brown and Gabriel Heinze to come in so things are not so bad."

United only need a point to seal their passage into the knockout phase, and are full of confidence after recording seven straight wins in all competitions.

"I am delighted with the form of the team," said Ferguson. "We want to make sure we qualify tomorrow. That is a priority for us."