Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that he will wait until the conclusion of tonight's World Cup qualifiers before he decides which of Manchester United players will play against Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.
The Red Devils have a number of squad members away on international duty, including Javier Hernandez and Shinji Kagawa, who have undertaken long journeys with Mexico and Japan respectively.
With United due to take on Chelsea in the FA Cup 48 hours after the trip to the North East, Ferguson has admitted that he will need to make sure whichever players he selects are fresh enough.
"Every coach is praying that their players come back fit," Ferguson told Sirius XM. "They played last Friday and they are playing tonight. Once I know later this evening how many minutes each player has played, I will start to think about my team for Saturday.
"I have to make sure I have some freshness in the team because we also have Chelsea on Monday lunchtime. It is a big ask for our squad and something we need to concentrate on because I need to make sure I pick the right teams."
Ferguson's team go into the match against Sunderland 15 points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Liam Apicella
