Injuries hit Man Utd chances

Veron's Achilles injury flared up against Deportivo

BBC Sport Online's football editor, Howard Nurse, reports from Old Trafford on Manchester United's growing injury crisis.

Sir Alex Ferguson's stony-faced expression said it all.

Half an hour after seeing his side reach the semi-finals of the European Cup, the Old Trafford boss had little to smile about.

While United enjoyed a comfortable 3-2 win against nine-man Deportivo in the Champions League quarter-final, second leg, the triumph came at a high price.

David Beckham, Ronny Johnsen and Juan Sebastian Veron all limped out of United's rousing victory against Deportivo La Coruna, adding to United's injury woes.

Beckham - now a serious doubt for the World Cup finals - was in hospital having treatment for a broken metatarsal bone.

Ronny Johnsen has been dogged by injuries

Johnsen had an ice pack on a hamstring strain and Veron was hobbling about with a recurrence of his Achilles injury.

Even two-goal hero Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in trouble towards the end of the game with a knock picked up in the closing stages.

Add to this the loss of captain Roy Keane, with a torn hamstring ruling him out of the domestic season, and United are almost down to the bare bones.

Ferguson also faces losing players next week during another round of World Cup warm-up matches.

And the United boss has no idea what side he will be able to field in the next Premiership game against Chelsea on Saturday week.

The mounting injury crisis at Old Trafford clearly gives title-favourites Arsenal a big advantage as the season reaches a climax.

Walking wounded

The Gunners, themselves without midfield maestro Robert Pires, will be even more confident now about their chances of wrestling the Premiership crown from United's grasp.

Ferguson plans to patch up his walking wounded and hope United can stay on Arsenal's shirt tails in their remaining league games.

"We've seen it all before," he said resolutely. "These things happen, which is why we have a strong group of players.

"We are very fortunate to have players like Nicky Butt and I am sure Veron will be fit for the first leg of the European Cup semi-final.

"There are international matches next week, so it's out of our hands. We will just have to see which players are available for when we go down to Chelsea.

Welsh wizard

"We'll be going there to win. We've handled it before," he added.

United will hope that Veron, who finally showed against Deportivo why Ferguson paid £28.1m for him, will pick up where Keane left off, marshalling the midfield along with the industrious Butt and link-man Paul Scholes.

With Beckham now also out for the rest of the domestic season at least, Ferguson will feel like wrapping Welsh wizard Ryan Giggs in cotton wool for the next few weeks.

Johnsen's latest setback is another cruel blow for the injury-prone Norwegian, who is about to be offered a new contract at Old Trafford.

Tough assignment

United have looked at their best in defence when Johnsen has been fit and his absence paves the way for Wes Brown to possibly appear in a second European Cup final.

European Cup semi-final opponents Bayer Leverkusen made mincemeat of a Liverpool defence which had only conceded one goal in six previous Champions League outings.

A weakened United face a tough assignment in the semi-finals as they strive for a Glasgow final against either Real Madrid or Barcelona.

It's make-or-break time for United over the next five weeks, but Ferguson knows the legend of Manchester United is staked on more than the sum of its parts.