Calf injury adds to Beckham woes

A major question mark surrounds patched-up England skipper David Beckham’s place in the Manchester United side to face Juventus at Old Trafford tomorrow.

Beckham was already a doubt after taking a blow on the calf during Saturday’s FA Cup defeat against Arsenal, which sparked the rage which ended with manager Alex Ferguson accidentally propelling a boot into his illustrious midfielder’s face.

While the two stitches inserted into the wound should not cause Beckham any undue problems, relations with his boss are believed to be strained and Ferguson may decide to leave him out in an attempt to ease the tension.

Juan Sebastian Veron is definitely missing through suspension, while Ryan Giggs (calf) and Paul Scholes (groin) are hoping to shake off minor niggles.

Provisional squad: Barthez, Carroll, Ricardo, G Neville, Silvestre, Ferdinand, Brown, O’Shea, Beckham, Butt, P Neville, Scholes, Keane, Giggs, Van Nistelrooy, Solskjaer, Forlan, Richardson, Stewart, Pugh.