John O'Shea and Jonny Evans climbed aboard Manchester United's flight to Milan on Monday morning, despite both struggling with injuries.

Sir Alex Ferguson is desperately hoping one of them is fit to face Inter in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

With Nemanja Vidic suspended and England duo Gary Neville and Wes Brown both ruled out through injury, Ferguson seemed to be facing a defensive crisis when Evans limped out of Saturday's win over Blackburn with an ankle injury, joining O'Shea, who has a sore heel, on the sidelines.

While the fitness of neither Irishmen can be guaranteed, the mere fact they were able to make the journey on Monday morning suggested Ferguson is optimistic he will be able to call on one of them.

O'Shea would be the most likely, although Belfast-born Evans declared his willingness to play if required on Saturday evening.

Ferguson is also without young player Rafael, who is thought to have picked up a knock against Blackburn on Saturday, but does have Darren Fletcher who could come in.

With Rio Ferdinand fit, Ferguson does at least have one of his first-choice central defenders available as he bids to guide United towards a repeat of last season's success in the competition.

Indeed, the Red Devils have not lost in Europe since they were beaten at the San Siro at the semi-final stage two years ago.

That loss was to AC Milan, although with Inter now cruising at the top of Serie A, midfielder Michael Carrick admitted there could be no harder test for United, who could land an 18th domestic championship this term following Liverpool's failure to beat Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.

"Inter are as tough an opponent as we could get right now," said Carrick. "They are in good form at the top of their league.

"We are both probably amongst the top four or five in Europe at the moment but that is what the Champions League is all about. You have to defeat the best if you want to win it."

Carrick watched on last week as Inter overcame an AC side including David Beckham in the Milan derby, although that did not come as a surprise.

"Inter were good but we know what to expect anyway," he said. "Going to the San Siro to play Inter is a massive game and a big test for us.

"Over the past two years we have been very consistent in the Champions League.

"We have not suffered any defeats since the last time we went to the San Siro and hopefully we can keep that run going."

Rafael will miss Sunday's Carling Cup final and a further month of action, having suffered a fractured ankle.

The 18-year-old, who has been a revelation in his first season at Old Trafford, sustained the injury in last weekend's victory over Blackburn, and Sir Alex Ferguson admits it is a heartbreaking setback for the Brazilian.

"Rafael is out for a month with a slight hairline fracture of his ankle," he told his pre-match press conference. “It’s a blow for the kid because he’s been playing in all the games and he’s done so well. He deserves to be in the final.”

More likely to be involved are Jonny Evans, Gary Neville and Anderson, who are all set to travel to Wembley despite recent injuries. Danny Welbeck and Darron Gibson, meanwhile, are both set to start.

"Gibson and Welbeck will both play and deserve to play," said Sir Alex. “Jonny Evans has hopefully recovered from Tuesday’s match. He was feeling his injury towards the end of the game. Like Rafael he deserves to play in the final.

“Other than that everyone’s fit. Neville’s in the squad, he’s been training well for about a week and will travel with us. Anderson played 45 minutes in the Reserves last night and he’ll travel down with us.”

With Edwin van der Sar likely to be rested over the weekend, Sir Alex admits he must make a difficult choice between Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak in replacing the Dutchman.

“It’s not an easy decision for me, it’s something I’ll have to mull over.”

strong line up indeed.. weiiii guys.. WAKE UP!!!!!

p/s : JOS currently has been prefered RB.. damn long didnt see Rafael in action.. perhaps, SAF cannot risk his 'open' game.. heh

Rio Ferdinand limped out of United’s FA Cup win over Fulham on Saturday and now faces a race against time to be fit for Internazionale’s visit to Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Ferdinand appeared to roll his ankle as he pursued Fulham forward Bobby Zamora shortly before half-time. The England defender played on but failed to emerge for the second half.

“Rio’s a bit of a concern,” Sir Alex told MUTV. “He’s gone over on his ankle and we just have to wait and see how he is now.

“I just hope he makes Wednesday because he’s such an important player to us.”

John O’Shea also picked up a knock on Saturday at Craven Cottage. After making way for Richard Eckersley, O’Shea appeared to hobble off down the tunnel clutching his hamstring.

If O’Shea is ruled out of Wednesday’s Champions League Last 16 second leg, Sir Alex may be forced to deploy Darren Fletcher at right-back; Gary Neville, Wes Brown and Rafael da Silva are all nursing injuries.

Wayne Rooney was also substituted on Saturday but Sir Alex confirmed that was purely a precautionary measure. The striker has just returned from a hamstring injury and the manager didn't want to take any chances.

"We need Wayne for Wednesday against Inter Milan," he said.

FA CUP SEMI-FINAL DRAW:
Arsenal/Hull v Chelsea
Man Utd v Everton

There was good news for United on the eve of the Champions League clash with Internazionale as Rio Ferdinand was passed fit to start the match.

The 30-year-old defensive lynchpin injured his ankle at Fulham in Saturday's FA Cup tie, and there had been concerns over his availability for Wednesday's crunch game.

However, Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed Ferdinand's fitness at his Tuesday lunch-time press conference. Rio is now expected to partner Nemanja Vidic, who was suspended for the first leg in Milan, in the heart of United's defence.

The United boss also declared John O'Shea to be ready. The Irishman has been nursing a heel injury of late but he also trained on Tuesday morning.

Sir Alex said: "Ferdinand and O'Shea trained today for the first time (since Saturday's match at Fulham). Both are fit and both will play."

Players absent from the first-team session at United's training headquarters were Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Rafael and Zoran Tosic who is ineligible anyway.

The squad in full training at Carrington on Tuesday morning was as follows:

Van der Sar, Foster, Kuszczak; Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Fabio, Evans, O'Shea, Eckersley; Ronaldo, Anderson, Giggs, Park, Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher, Gibson, Nani; Rooney, Berbatov, Tevez, Welbeck.