(bbc.co.uk)Manchester United will be without Wayne Rooney when they chase their first win in this season’s Champions League against Basel on Tuesday.
Fellow striker Javier Hernandez will also be missing with a dead leg suffered in that game.
United will also be without Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans, Nemanja Vidic, Rafael and Tom Cleverley.
Evans is ruled out with an ankle problem and defender Smalling is sidelined with a groin injury, while Serbia international Vidic has yet to start training after sustaining a calf injury last month.
But United do have options in attack with Danny Welbeck making his return from a hamstring problem as a second-half substitute at the Britannia Stadium, while Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen are also in contention.
United drew their Champions League opener with Benfica 1-1, while Basel – who will be without suspended striker Xherdan Shaqiri – kicked off their Group C campaign with a win over Romanian champions Otelul Galati.
“I think we got a positive result against Benfica,” United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said. “Hopefully, we can strengthen our position. Basle are a decent side though.”
Ferguson is hoping a victory over Basel is followed by back-to-back wins over Otelul Galati so he can rest players for the final Group C matches ahead of the packed December Premier League fixture list.
“If we win our next three games, we can utilise the squad,” Ferguson said.
“It would definitely help and we’ve done that over the years. It’s sometimes backfired – I played a fresh team over in Fenerbahce and they beat us 3-0.
“Although I want to make changes, I don’t want an embarrassment. So changes have got to be made with a mind of still winning the game.”
