Wayne Rooney has yet to recover from the calf injury that kept him out of Manchester United's past two games and could miss Sunday's Premier League match at Liverpool.
The England striker, who has scored just once against Liverpool since joining United in August 2004, was hurt playing for England two weeks ago.
"He is always desperate to play; that's the nature of the boy," United manager Alex Ferguson said Friday. "Of course, you can't let that cloud the realistic side of things. It's going to be important how he does in training on Saturday."
The former Everton striker has hit seven goals for United this season, thriving in a central position since Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid.
Midfielder Darren Fletcher may also be out for a third straight game because of a foot problem, while Park Ji-sung is also injured.
Patrice Evra and Ryan Giggs should be fit after sitting out Wednesday's 1-0 Champions League win at CSKA Moscow.
