Ruud van Nistelrooy missing again

Ruud van Nistelrooy was again missing from the Manchester United starting line-up for today’s visit of struggling Sunderland to Old Trafford.

The Dutchman has still not recovered from the infected foot which caused him to sit out Saturday’s win over Birmingham, so manager Sir Alex Ferguson opted to name the side which performed so well in that 2-0 win.

It consigned Ryan Giggs and the Neville brothers to a place on the bench, where they were joined by exciting youngster Kieron Richardson.

While was victory was vital to a United side desperate to put some pressure on table-toppers Arsenal, Sunderland’s need for points was just as acute given their perilous plight at the foot of the table.

The Wearsiders have taken just four points from their last six outings and new boss Howard Wilkinson knows his team are firmly involved in a fight for survival.

Wilkinson brought back Tore Andre Flo – scorer of Sunderland’s equaliser in the previous meeting between the sides this term – while strike partner Kevin Phillips was handed the captaincy.

Fortunately though, there was no chance of a repeat of the most controversial moment of the 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light, when Roy Keane was dismissed for elbowing former international team-mate Jason McAteer in the head.

For, while Keane started his third match after a four-month absence following hip surgery, McAteer was again sidelined with a long-standing hernia problem.