Fergie: Ferdinand could face Spurs

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Rio Ferdinand is in contention for Saturday's Premier League clash with unbeaten Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

The England centre-back has been sidelined since suffering a thigh injury last month and has only featured in the Community Shield so far this season.

However, the 30-year-old's recovery from the injury has been quicker than expected and could feature at the weekend.

"Rio has been in training this week and has a got a chance for Saturday, I'm not sure how big a chance but he has got a chance," said Ferguson.

"We've had a good group of players training here at Carrington while the internationals have been going on - Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Anderson, Ji-sung Park as well as young Fabio and Michael Owen.

"So we have a decent squad. In fact, it's unusual to have that many players here [during the international break]."

However, full-back John O'Shea is set to be missing after suffering a calf injury on duty with the Republic of Ireland.

Ireland's coach Giovanni Trapattoni had warned that O'Shea could be ruled out for a couple of months if he is rushed back into action too soon.

Ferguson said: "O'Shea has not trained - he came back with a calf injury from Ireland's game in Cyprus and is doubtful for Saturday so we will see what he's like."

Source: ESPN Soccernet, Sept 10, 2009