United welcome Wolves to Old Trafford on the back of an exceptionally bad week.
Not only were United knocked out of the Champions’ League at the group stages but Vidic was ruled out for the rest of the season and they were consigned to Thursday (or Tuesday if you believe some recent press reports) and Sunday fixtures. One benefit that must be had from this week, however, is that the Europa League does offer Ferguson a chance to a) ‘focus on the league’ and b) blood some of the youngsters and fringe players in European competition. This could be a platform from which Pogba, Berbatov, Morrison, Gibson et al. launch or revive their careers.
Sir Alex Ferguson is hoping Dimitar Berbatov recovers from an ankle injury to give Manchester United
a much-needed lift ahead of the Old Trafford encounter with Wolves.
Michael Carrick returns from suspension and should start in midfield, with Phil Jones reverting to a defensive position.
The Reds have an opportunity to close the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City to two points ahead of the Blues' trip to Chelsea on Monday.
However, there are plenty of questions being asked of the United squad as a whole right now, which Ferguson is convinced they will answer.
"These young players have already achieved many things," said Ferguson.
"Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Danny Welbeck have all played for their country. These will be the foundation of the club in a few years' time, there is no question about that.
"These young players got a nasty experience on Wednesday but they know they have the trust of myself and their coaches. They will not be hounded because of one bad performance.
"Time will prove us right."
Match Facts
*The Reds have lost just one of their last 28 Premier League games at Old Trafford (W25 D2 L1).
* United have won their last five home league games against Wolves and are unbeaten in the last six. Wolves have scored just one goal in those last six games.
* Wolves have beaten United twice in the Premier League including the last match at Molineux in February United lost 2-1
* Wolves have lost their last five away games in a row in the league.
* Wanderers striker Steven has scored more headed goals than any other Premier League player since the start of 2010-11 (eight).
* United have only ever had more points after 14 games of a Premier league campaign in two of the previous 19 seasons (1994 and 2007)
*14 points after 14 games is Wolves’ best performance in their four Premier League campaigns.
* United have kept more clean sheets than any other team in the Premier League this season.
Squads
United: De Gea, Lindegaard, Amos, Evra, Smalling, Fryers, Ferdinand, Evans, Jones, Carrick, Fletcher, Gibson, Pogba, Morrison, Park, Giggs, Nani, Valencia, Young, Rooney, Welbeck, Macheda,
Injured: Rafael, Fabio, Vidic, Anderson, Cleverley, Hernandez, Berbatov, Owen.
Wolves: Hennessey, De Vries, Elokobi, Edwards, Stearman, Doherty, Foley, Zubar, Johnson, Berra, Henry, O’Hara, Hammill, Milijas, Ward, Hunt, Jarvis, Ebanks-Blake, Fletcher, Doyle, Winnall,
Injured: Craddock
Referee: M. Oliver
Ground: Old Trafford
United league form: WWWDW
Wolves league form: LWLLW
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