INJURIES MOUNT

Manchester United's preparations for the second leg of their Champions League first knockout round tie against Lille this evening have been hit by a spate of injuries that will have José Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, wondering whether he was right when he predicted that Sir Alex Ferguson's good luck cannot last all season.

Yesterday Ferguson revealed concerns about Patrice Evra while Louis Saha and Darren Fletcher are definite non-starters tonight.

Saha had been due to play in attack against Lille until he injured his thigh during shooting practice yesterday. Gabriel Heinze, the Argentina defender, is on standby to deputise for Evra, while the loss of Fletcher, who has been ruled out for two months with an ankle injury, comes at a bad time, with Paul Scholes, his fellow midfield player, facing a three-match domestic ban for his red card against Liverpool in the Barclays Premiership on Saturday.

However, it is the injury to Saha that is the most worrying, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer recovering from a minor knee operation, Alan Smith out of first-team action since November 7 last year and Henrik Larsson, the former Celtic and Barcelona forward, due to return to Helsingborg once his loan deal expires on Monday.

Ferguson said of Larsson:

"That's definite. Henrik goes back on Monday. The agreement has been reached with myself and Henrik and the club. We have sent Louis for a scan. He won't be fit to play against Lille and that's a blow for us."