Van der Saar to have tests on foot injury

BIRMINGHAM, England (AFP) - Edwin van der Saar will have precautionary scans on the foot injury he suffered in Manchester United's 1-0 victory over Birmingham City this weekend which kept the Premiership Champions within two points of leaders Arsenal.

The Dutch international goalkeeper was unable to continue after half-time, after falling heavily during the first half at St Andrews and United have already ruled him out of taking part in Tuesday night's Champions League Group game against AS Roma at Old Trafford.

"Edwin has a problem with his foot and our medical people are taking care of the situation. They will have a better idea of the problem after tests, but he is unlikely to be fit to play against Roma," said Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager.

The loss of the experienced goalkeeper is a major worry to Ferguson ahead of the meeting with the Serie A side, who are determined to avenge their 7-1 humiliation against the English Premier League Champions in last season's competition.

Van der Saar has not conceded a goal in seven hours and 44 minutes since he was beaten by Manchester City's Brazilian striker Geovanni's deflected effort off Nemanja Vidic caused them to lose the Manchester derby against Sven-Goran Eriksson's side on 19 August.

Tomasz Kuszczak, signed from Championship side West Bromwich Albion permanently in the summer and who replaced van der Saar for the second half against Birmingham, has been placed on stand-by for his Champions League debut.

"Tomasz made one very good save and showed why he is a Manchester United player. It is very hard for him behind a player as good as Edwin and he has had to wait for his opportunity, but we are very confident in his ability and we have no worries," said Ferguson's assistant manager Carlos Queiroz.

The loss of van der Saar was the only real negative for United as they recorded their fifth successive Premier League victory, as Portuguese winger Christiano Ronaldo marked his 100th Premiership appearance with the decisive 51st minute goal.

Ronaldo ensured that it remains 29-years since Birmingham last beat United, an emphatic 5-1 victory back in November 1978, with his first Premiership goal of the season, after registering his first goal of the campaign against Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.

And Ferguson believes that his side could not have been given a better examination ahead of returning to Champions League duty, by the side managed by his former Manchester United captain, Steve Bruce.

"They gave us the hardest game we have had all season. The first half of the game was especially difficult and we had to really defend. They are a good team, with a lot of pace and aggression and they deserve a lot of credit for the problems they caused us," added Ferguson.

Ferguson believes his defence is as strong as it has been for many seasons at Old Trafford, as they kept a fifth successive clean sheet in the Premiership, but that will still not prevent him from pursuing his interest in Sporting Lisbon defender Miguel Veloso.

Veloso, who captained the Portuguese under-21 side at the recent European Championships in Holland, impressed in United's recent 1-0 Champions League win in Lisbon and United are believed to have been quoted a six million pound fee for the central defender, who is a close friend of Ronaldo and United's other Portuguese star Nani.