Red Devils take strong squad south

Manchester United have a virtually fully-fit squad for tomorrow’s televised Premiership trip match at Portsmouth.

Aside from long-term absentees Gabriel Heinze, Quinton Fortune and Paul Scholes, plus John O’Shea – who is expected to be back from fractured ribs within a fortnight – Alex Ferguson has all his senior players available now Ryan Giggs has recovered from a hamstring injury.

Having lost on their last two visits to Fratton Park, United are eager to gain a victory on the south coast which would cement their position in second spot behind runaway leaders Chelsea.

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