False Start For Vidic As Midfielder Nears Return

Nemanja Vidic will definitely miss the Manchester Derby on Sunday after declaring himself not quite ready to face FC Cluj tomorrow.

Last Friday Sir Alex stated that the defender was in line to face the Romanian side tomorrow, putting him in line to face City on Sunday but at his press conference today Sir Alex confirmed the Serbian would miss both games, stating he was never in contention for the derby in the first place:

“I do not think he will play.

“He feels he needs another few days’ training. He will not play in the derby if he doesn’t play (on Wednesday), although I wasn’t considering him for Sunday anyway. Playing tomorrow would have been a bonus but Sunday would have been too soon [for that sort of game].”

With United shipping goals at an unusual rate, the captain’s return was set to boost the side. But isn’t a massive blow as United have a plethora of center backs to choose from.

In better news, Sir Alex stated Shinji Kagawa has returned to training and has an outside chance of making the derby. The Japanese playmaker has been out since damaging his knee against Braga in October but Sir Alex feels he isn’t far away from a return:

“Kagawa started running today. He may make the bench [against City]. He’s showing good promise now. It is much better and I don’t think he is far away.”