Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson remains hopeful that Rio Ferdinand will make their trip to Chelsea.

Ferguson insists it's Ferdinand's calf, not his back, that is troubling the England defender.

"Rio has a calf injury and they can be troubleseome," the boss said. "If you don't rest and give it the proper treatment then you can end up in the situation we've been in where you're playing players in games when they're not 100 per cent fit. He's doing some good work and hopefully we'll see improvement [before our game against Chelsea on Sunday]."