Source: Telegraph
Manchester United allay Rio Ferdinand injury fears after Portsmouth absence
Ferdinand, 30, returned to action against FC Porto last Wednesday following a two-week groin injury lay-off and the former West Ham and Leeds centre-half also faced Everton in the FA Cup semi-final at the weekend. [LNB]But Ferdinand did not even make the bench against Portsmouth, prompting concerns that he had suffered another injury setback. [LNB] Related ArticlesMan United 2 Portsmouth 0Man Utd v Portsmouth: Man markingFerguson on edge as Neville and O'Shea hurtPapers: Tevez looks to leave and United target DodoWin tickets to Man Utd v SpursMan Utd-Arsenal competitionWith United due to face Spurs on Saturday evening and then Arsenal in the Champions League semi-final first-leg next Wednesday, however, manager Ferguson insisted that Ferdinand's absence was purely down to the player's fatigue. [LNB]Ferguson said: "Rio's ok. The fact that he played extra-time at Wembley on Sunday after just returning from two weeks out made him too big a risk. [LNB]"There's nothing wrong with his groin, it was just about tiredness, and with Jonny Evans being such a good performer, it's easy to bring him in when required." [LNB]United can clinch their third successive league title by claiming 13 points from their remaining six fixtures and the championship could be secured against Arsenal at Old Trafford on May 16. [LNB]Despite United's strong position, however, Scottish midfielder Darren Fletcher has warned against looking too far ahead. [LNB]He said: "We've got that little advantage. We're top of the league, three points ahead and we've got that game in hand but those points aren't in the bag yet. [LNB]"There are going to be plenty of twists and turns left in this season and the only thing we can do is concentrate on ourselves and as long as we're winning matches, we should win the league. [LNB]"We were on a run of three massive home games. We've got Portsmouth out the way and now we've got to look to Tottenham. [LNB]"We can only look to the next game and that's Tottenham and we'll look to pick up three points in that. [LNB]"We look to the next match and don't look too far ahead of ourselves and see where that takes us." [LNB]
