Man Utd defence hit hard by injury

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admits his defence has been hit hard by injury ahead of tonight's Champions League tie with Besiktas.

It is hoped Gary Neville will train this morning, so he could be in contention for the bench or for the trip to Portsmouth on Saturday. However, Rio Ferdinand, John O'Shea, Jonny Evans and Fabio are all either out or severe doubts for both games.

"They're all out," Sir Alex told manutd.com. "Really it's a fight to get one of them for Saturday's game [against Portsmouth]. But I have my doubts.

"Sometimes it happens and you get good runs free of injury, and other times you don't. That's the value of having a good squad. It'll probably be the same back four as Saturday against Everton.

"Gary Neville didn't train today but I'm hoping he'll train on Wednesday so we will see how he is after that. We have plenty of options in midfield and in the front positions. It's just the back four that is causing us concern. I hope I get one or two more fit for Saturday."