Blackburn v Man Utd preview

Ince and Ferguson reunited on Ewood Park touchline

Last updated: 3rd October 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Blackburn v Man Utd preview

Ince: Welcomes Fergie to Ewood

Skysports.com prediction: Blackburn 1 Man United 2

Sky Bet odds: Blackburn 6/1, Draw 23/10, Man United 8/13

One to Watch: Dimitar Berbatov

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Self-proclaimed 'Guv'nor' Paul Ince comes face to face with the man he once called 'Gaffer' as Manchester United travel to Blackburn.

Ince was once the fulcrum of a United side that gave the club their first ever Premier League title back in 1993, which ended a championship drought that dated back to Sir Matt Busby's class of 1967.

There will, though, be no room for sentiment when the pair lock horns on the touchline on Saturday, with Ince joining the likes of Mark Hughes, Steve Bruce and Roy Keane as a former Ferguson protégé now plying his trade as a top flight manager.

United make the short trip to Ewood Park trailing their North West neighbours by two points, albeit with a game in hand, following what has been a difficult start to their title defence.

Indifferent start

On the contrary to Ferguson, Ince will be quietly content with a campaign that has yielded ten points from six games; a record which affords Rovers a seventh placed position that has gone a long way to silencing those that questioned his credentials in stepping from League Two to the Premier League.

Key to Rovers continuing a decent set of results will be whether they can quell a United attack that has been shorn of Wayne Rooney - after he was injured on European exertions in Denmark - but can boast Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov, who can only but have been buoyed by a two-goal salvo in midweek.

Rooney's spell on the sidelines is expected to be a short one, but for Paul Scholes the news is less positive as he now faces up to ten weeks in the treatment room with a knee injury.

Scholes' absence could see Darren Fletcher return to United's starting XI, with Michael Carrick out for a further month and ongoing concerns over Owen Hargreaves' knee.

Midfield conundrum

Anderson started United's home win over Bolton in their last league outing and the Brazilian will again be vying with the likes of Park Ji-Sung, John O'Shea, Nani and Ryan Giggs for a starting berth.

Gary Neville is expected to be recalled by Ferguson despite Rafael Da Silva's excellent performance against Aalborg, as the young Brazilian picked up a minor injury in the second half. Wes Brown is again expected to be left looking glum-faced on the substitutes' bench.

Blackburn have no fresh injury concerns ahead of United's visit so it could be a case of 'as you were', with the exception of Danny Simpson who is unlikely to figure against his parent club.

Otherwise, Ince is expected to name the side that piled more misery on Newcastle last week in coming away from St James' Park with a 2-1 win.

Paul Robinson's calf strain is likely to prohibit his involvement again, meaning a further chance for Jason Brown to impress between Rovers' posts.

Matt Derbyshire's bright start to the campaign will see him fend off the claims of Robbie Fowler and Jason Roberts to start upfront alongside the ever-dangerous Roque Santa Cruz, while new crowd favourite Carlos Villanueva will be given licence to roam as Tugay is again given the keys to Blackburn's midfield.

Possible starting line-ups

Blackburn: Brown, Samba, Olsson, Warnock, Ooijer, Nelsen, Emerton, Tugay, Derbyshire, Cruz, Villanueva

United: Van der Sar, Neville, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Park, Anderson, Fletcher, Ronaldo, Berbatov, Tevez