O´Shea And Rooney To Miss Boro Match
Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that John O´Shea will miss Saturday´s trip to Middlesbrough due to a thigh injury sustained in the win at Aston Villa.
The Irish international is expected to be out of action for around two weeks after he was substituted on the hour-mark at Villa Park.
That misfortune was somewhat tempered, though, by the news that both Gary Neville and Eric Djemba-Djemba will be available for selection after recovering from a flu virus.
”Both are back in training and will be okay for the game,” confirmed Fergie at his pre-match press conference. “Gary had his first training session on Wednesday and he also did a bit of Thursday. So both of them will be fit for the match.”
United will, however, be without Wayne Rooney who begins a three-match ban for violent conduct following his altercation with Bolton defender Tal Ben Haim on Boxing Day.
When asked for his thoughts on the violent conduct charge levelled at Rooney, Ferguson said simply: “We’re not surprised as we feel we’re viewed differently from other clubs.
”The violent conduct charge amazes me because I think every man and his dog would agree it’s not violent conduct. And why, if it is violent conduct, are they charging Haim as well? I can’t understand that. If it’s violent conduct then Haim should not be charged.
”But he has been charged which therefore means they [the FA] see him as being guilty of diving and bringing the game into disrepute, and I think everyone would agree with that. So why then has Wayne been given a violent conduct charge?
”It was no more than a push in the face; there was no swing of the arm or anything like that. There was an incident during the Chelsea – Aston Villa match where two players slapped each other in the face but the referee just had a word with them and got on with it.
”The system is flawed. And because it [the Rooney case] is a closed session we’re not allowed to appeal which seems to be unfair and immoral.”
Before turning his attention to the New Year’s Day trip to Teesside, Fergie reflected on United’s visit to Villa Park earlier in the week, a match he labelled as the “hardest away game of the season.”
“We always feel Villa Park is a tricky place to go to,” he explains. “We’ve got a good record down there but they’re always really difficult tight games.
”The present Villa team is a very energetic and emerging young side and we said before the game that they play good football, and they did that.
”So we had to perform really well which we did, apart from the last fifteen minutes when David [O’Leary] put on his front four and threw everything at us.
”Nevertheless the team showed their character and there was no way we were going to lose the match.”
“Middlesbrough will be another tricky game for us,” continued the Boss. “They’ve been doing fantastically well this season.
”Steve’s [McClaren] built his own team and brought in seasoned professionals like Parlour, Reiziger, Viduka and Hasselbaink who are all experienced pros. So we know it’ll be another tough game.”
