Manchester United defender John O'Shea is hoping to steer clear of an injury nightmare next season. O'Shea had a thigh problem while Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Jonny Evans, Rafael, Wes Brown and Fabio also had a spell on the sidelines.
In addition Nemanja Vidic was laid up with flu and goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar needed treatment as well.
So strapped were United in that area that Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick found themselves playing out of position.
O'Shea said: "Injuries were a key factor last season and we hope to avoid them this time around. I can never remember so many defenders being injured.
"But we still got so close to retaining the title - only a few lapses of concentration let us down in the end. Now we are all hungry to succeed again."
