Manchester United v Birmingham: Preview

Manchester United v Birmingham

Manchester United v Birmingham: Preview

Next Five Matches in Competition
Manchester United		Birmingham
8/16	H: Birmingham	8/16	A: Manchester United
8/19	A: Burnley	8/19	H: Portsmouth
8/22	A: Wigan Athletic	8/22	H: Stoke City
8/29	H: Arsenal	8/29	A: Tottenham Hotspur
9/12	A: Tottenham Hotspur	9/13	H: Aston Villa
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Updated: August 15, 2009, 12:33 PM UK

Brown set for United start

Wes Brown is expected to start for Manchester United when the Barclays Premier League champions begin the defence of their title against Birmingham.

Brown has recovered from a thigh injury he picked up in pre-season so, with Jonny Evans (ankle) likely to join Nemanja Vidic (calf) and Gary Neville (groin) on the sidelines, the England defender should play in central defence alongside Rio Ferdinand.

Ben Foster is fit and seems certain to pip Tomasz Kuszczak for the goalkeeping slot as United begin life without Cristiano Ronaldo.

Antonio Valencia and Michael Owen could make their debuts.

It will be a new-look Manchester United this season - but Sir Alex Ferguson expects to be facing the same old problems.

Ferguson may have lost Ronaldo to Real Madrid. Yet that only increases his selection dilemmas.

"I still have the same problems,'' Ferguson said. "We have so many options my door will be worn out by the end of the year.

United have begun the last two domestic campaigns with goalless draws against sides - Reading and Newcastle - who went on to get relegated.

Ferguson would be unhappy if his team suffered a third successive opening day setback as they chase a four successive championship, if only because he expects the title to be a tightly-fought affair.

"You could put a blanket over ourselves, Chelsea and Liverpool,'' he said. "What may decide it is if one club gets a run of injuries, or a lot of them at one time.

"We have more experience because of winning the titles but it doesn't make that much difference in terms of the competition we are going to get into.

"To win four in a row would be fantastic. But this is a difficult league is to win and rather than look to May I am looking at Sunday.''

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish faces major selection problems ahead of his team's daunting return to the top flight.

Defenders Liam Ridgewell, Martin Taylor, Scott Dann, Giovanny Espinoza and David Murphy are all unavailable.

Midfielder Lee Bowyer is suspended while striker Marcus Bent is sidelined by a hamstring problem.

But new signings Joe Hart, Roger Johnson, Gregory Vignal and Barry Ferguson will all make their debuts.

Fellow new boy, striker Christian Benitez, could be on the bench as he continues his recovery from shoulder surgery.

McLeish has no doubts that his former Rangers and Scotland captain Ferguson will quickly settle in the Premier League.

Ferguson, one of eight new faces at St Andrews this summer after a £1.2million move from Ibrox, is preparing for a second crack at the English top flight.

The 31-year-old, despite a strong reputation north of the border, struggled to make an impact during an injury-affected 16-month spell at Blackburn that ended in 2005.

He re-established himself in Scotland again after that but controversy last season has brought him back to England.

Ferguson was told he would never be picked for Scotland again after indulging in a lengthy drinking session and then directing V-signs at cameras earlier this year. He was also disciplined by Rangers over the matter.

Ferguson this week criticised the Scottish Football Association over their handling of the affair but McLeish now wants him to concentrate on Birmingham.

"He has said his piece, I think he wanted to get some things off his chest,'' said McLeish, Rangers manager from 2001 to 2006. "He feels he has been made a scapegoat.

"But Barry has got to look forward to his English career now, he has unfinished business.

"The jury might still be out in terms of his last stint in the Premier League, but the reports I got when I took him back to Rangers were that he was playing out of his skin.

"In that period after he bust his kneecap he came back to play a very important role for Blackburn.''

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