Rio Might Play At The Lane

Tottenham started the season very well and they look very, very dangerous in attack. Therefore, it would be quite a relief if we could count on Rio Ferdinand who's been absent for a while now with another of his neverending injuries.

And there is a chance that he will feature, even though he wasn't expected to return before City's visit to Old Trafford next Sunday.

'Rio has a chance for Saturday,' Sir Alex said. 'I`m not sure it`s a big chance but he has a chance.

'We`ve had a good group of players training here at Carrington while the internationals have been going on - Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Anderson, Ji-sung Park... also young Fabio and Michael Owen. So we have a decent squad. In fact, it`s unusual to have that many players here.'

Could that mean a little rest for Fletcher and a chance for the Scholes-Anderson pairing? It would be... well, brave, to put it politely. As for Rio: I don't think he'll be back, Fergie will eventually go for caution in this case, it's not as if this game is decisive in any way, it's only the fifth of the campaign.