Ferdinand, Anderson injuries take shine off Utd win

Sir Alex Ferguson has been hit with a double injury blow ahead of Sunday’s League Cup final against Aston Villa after Rio Ferdinand was ruled out of the Wembley clash and Anderson suffered a serious knee injury.

Ferguson said after Tuesday’s 3-0 win over West Ham that Ferdinand had aggravated a back problem which is also likely to cause him to miss England’s friendly with Egypt at Wembley next week.

It is a major blow for both United and Ferdinand. He had hoped to make his return from suspension against West Ham but was forced to miss out after tweaking his back in training.

Brazilian midfielder Anderson could also be sidelined for the League Cup final after limping out of United’s sixth successive home league win with a suspected twisted knee.

“Rio felt a twinge in his back on Tuesday morning,” said Ferguson after two goals by Wayne Rooney and a Michael Owen strike fired United to a victory which leaves them one point behind Premier League leaders Chelsea.

“We couldn’t take a chance with him. He won’t be ready for Sunday.

“We’ve sent Anderson for a scan. Hopefully it’s not serious but it’s not looking great.”

At least United head for Wembley with confidence sky high after bouncing back from last Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Everton – which Ferguson blamed on fatigue following United’s Champions League win away to AC Milan – to keep the pressure on Chelsea at the top of the table.

Rooney was outstanding as he took his tally for the season to 27 goals – 23 of which have come on the Premier League stage.

He broke the deadlock in a poor first half before adding a second as United took command after half time.

“Rooney’s like King Midas. Everything he touches at the moment turns to gold,” said West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola.

“I actually thought he had a normal game but he still scored two goals and in the end he could have had another. It shows you what sort of form he is in.”

Ferguson also lavished praise on his leading scorer.

“Wayne’s taken his goals well. He must have got my video! He’s in very good form at the moment and hopefully that can continue,” he said.

“We had to win. It was very disappointing last Saturday when we all felt drained from the emotion of Milan.

“But we showed a great appetite here. We should have scored a lot more.”

Ferguson insisted he would make changes for Wembley and said that young Brazilian defender Rafael Da Silva was in line to start against Villa.

West Ham remain in a relegation fight but with home games against fellow strugglers Bolton, Wolves, Sunderland and Wigan to come, Zola is confident his side can stay clear of the bottom three.

“It’s not easy to play against Manchester United and come back from 1-0 down,” Zola added. “But there are no excuses. We have to do much better than that. We have been playing better recently.”

Ferguson had used his programme notes to salute on Rooney’s form this season and the 24-year-old had his manager applauding from the sidelines in the 38th minute as he headed home from eight-yards after connecting with Antonio Valencia’s superb volleyed cross.

Rooney put the game out of West Ham’s reach when he pulled away from his marker to meet Valencia’s excellent 55th minute cross to nod past Robert Green.

There was no way back for the Hammers with United having passed the nine-and-a-half-hour mark since they last conceded a league goal on home soil and Owen came off the bench to put the result beyond doubt with his first league goal since September – a clinical finish from Paul Scholes’ 80th minute pass.