Article by Mark Graham, Editor, Record Keeper & Official Reporter @ MUFCINFO.COM.

Competition

preview: Blackburn Rovers v MANCHESTER UNITED

Premiership Matchday 34

Ewood Park, Blackburn, England, 13.30pm GMT, Sunday 11th April 2010.

Team News

Wayne Rooney will miss the trip.

JOS should feature as should Owen Hargreaves but he (Hargreaves) has not been named in the preliminary squad.

Vince Grella and Keith Andrews return to the Blackburn squad.

Squads

Blackburn Rovers (from): Robinson, Brown, Dunn, Olsson, Salgado, Pedersen, Nzonzi, Samba, Nelsen, Andrews, Givet, Jacobsen, Grella, Hoilett, Roberts, Diouf, Kalinic, Chimbonda, Jones, Emerton, Di Santo, Basturk.

Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, Neville, O’Shea, Rafael, De Laet, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Carrick,  Scholes, Fletcher, Park, Gibson, Obertan, Valencia, Giggs, Nani, Berbatov, Macheda, Diouf.

Pre Match Press Conference Highlights

on Rafael

"“He is young and he is inexperienced but his performance on Wednesday night... he was probably our best player. He was fantastic. He absolutely dominated [Franck] Ribery and it is just disappointing for the boy."

“It was unfair, it was totally unfair. They [the Bayern Munich players] got the boy sent off. It was not a sending off.
 

"He barely touched him. In fact, Ribery has done more to him than he has done to Ribery.

“The issue was how they reacted. They knew the boy was on a yellow card, they surrounded the referee and that happens, we see it time and time again within football.”

Rafael's dismissal came at a crucial point in the match. Up to that point, United had dominated proceedings.

“Our performance was fantastic," Sir Alex said. "At 3-0 it could have been 5-0. We were magnificent, absolutely magnificent.”

On Wayne Rooney

"I don't think it's as serious as we said when he got the injury the first time, but I think he'll be ready for the City game,"

"We've got more time to work on it, anyway. Other than that, everyone else is fit."

On team selection for Blackburn
"Given the nature of the game on Wednesday and the energy spent, we have to address the situation of freshness," he said.

"We've got a a squad to use - we have the likes of Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville and we also have John O'Shea back now. He came on against Bayern and did 30 minutes' work - it's good to get him back because he's such a versatile player for us.

"Sam Allardyce's team is in fantastic form. Blackburn is always a difficult place to go and they have a good home record. Hopefully we can get the energy back in the team. If we do that we'll be all right."

Patrice Evra

"I was very upset on Wednesday night, but when I woke up the next day I said to myself: ‘Pat, you have the privilege to win the league again, for the fourth time in a row’."

“And I’m not saying that just to look good in an interview. I truly believe this. I was sad on Wednesday but now I’m okay: I’m ready for the fight.

“Manchester United have to win five games in a row. Is that difficult? I don’t think so. I think we can do that, but the only way we will do that is by showing spirit. When Manchester United play with the right spirit, nobody can beat us.

Head to Head

Milestones

SAF's 692nd Premiership fixture in charge.

107th game between the two sides.

Score Prediction

3-1 to the Reds.

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