Fergie Selction Headache

Sir Alex Ferguson is pondering whether to stick with the burgeoning strike partnership of Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez or go with a three-man central midfield in Kyiv on Tuesday night.

In plummeting temperatures in the Ukrainian capital, the United boss oversaw training at the Olympic Stadium, in which he was buoyed by the sight of a fit Nemanja Vidic taking part in the full training session.

But he has a selection dilemma further up the field. Rooney, who scored twice against Aston Villa at the weekend, proved his partnership with Tevez is starting to click.

Sir Alex has already stated that he believes Dynamo Kyiv – yet to pick up any points in Group F so far – have no option but to attack the Reds. The decision now is how best to counter Dynamo's approach; whether to meet the Ukrainians with the Tevez-Rooney axis that is performing so well domestically, or revert to the lone striker with three central midfielders used against Sporting Lisbon.

“In Tevez and Rooney we have too exceptionally good footballers,” the manager said at his pre-match press conference in Kyiv. “They are both such strong players and a real threat to defenders.

“It makes them a real consideration for tomorrow, their form is good enough,” he added. “There is the tactical part to consider.

“I would have liked to have had Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves here. They are ideal European players. We don’t have either of them, but we have good options. There’s Paul Scholes, Anderson, Darren Fletcher and John O’Shea.

“We may go with three players in the middle, as we did in Lisbon. That is certainly a possibility. Whatever we do, the intention will be to try and win the match because the rewards are great for us.

“It’s an important game for Kyiv. They will be wanting to win the match and I expect them to have a go. We see it as an opportunity for us because Roma and Sporting Lisbon have a double header against each other.