Rio may be in midfield again

Rio Ferdinand may again find himself pressed into emergency midfield duty tomorrow as Manchester United look to record their second win in a week over Blackburn.

Ferdinand excelled in the role in Sunday’s FA Cup win at Wolves – and with Alan Smith suspended for the Ewood Park encounter and neither Ryan Giggs (hamstring) nor John O’Shea (ribs) likely to be fit, Alex Ferguson may have little alternative but to turn to his £29.1m man once more.

Cristiano Ronaldo should be available after a recent knee injury for tomorrow’s Premiership match, while Patrice Evra is pushing for a recall at left-back.

Provisional squad: Van der Sar, Howard, Neville, Bardsley, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre, Vidic, Evra, Ronaldo, Park, Fletcher, Richardson, Rooney, Van Nistelrooy, Saha, Rossi, Solskjaer.