Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admits Anders Lindegaard's injury rules out a loan exit for Ben Amos.

Amos will now be required as back-up to De Gea until the middle of March, a period that includes a last-32 Europa League encounter with Ajax and also tough domestic fixtures against Liverpool and Tottenham, in addition to the Chelsea trip.

It rules out any possibility of Amos leaving on loan and gaining further experience in addition to the half season he spent at Oldham last term.

"Ben Amos has been looking for his opportunity for quite a while and we wondered about sending him out of loan," Ferguson said.

"But it's not easy to let one of your goalkeepers go when you're in Europe. You need three keepers and that's proving its point now."