Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted losing Rio Ferdinand in the pre-match warm-up was a blow as they lost 2-1 at Wolves.
Ferdinand faces two weeks on the sidelines with a calf injury suffered before kickoff.
"It was a blow because the experience Rio has got is always vital in games like that," said Ferguson.
"Normally I would have put Chris Smalling there. He has been playing recently.
"But we had to pull Chris in as a substitute because Jonny (Evans) had already done the warm-up."
