Brown – 7 Solid performance as he continues his comeback. Got forward well and showed good awareness to send Park through and set up Smalling for United’s second goal.

Smalling – 8 Growing in stature with every game. Dominant on the floor and reads the game very well. And contributed at the other end with a goal and an assist.

Ferdinand – 7 Still looks a little rusty after a lengthy spell on the sidelines, but his leadership qualities will be a big boost to United’s back line.

Rafael – 6 Plenty of effort from the Brazilian but struggled to make an impact from the left back slot.

Park – 7 The usual lung busting energy from the Korean and a goal and an assist to his name as well.

Gibson – 7 Brilliant goal to trigger United’s come back, showing that he’s got more in his locker than a good long shot.

Anderson – 7 Still looks a little off the pace and a bit round on the waist, but his penetrative passing were a reminder of what we can expect when he’s back to full fitness.

Hernandez – 6 Playing from the right for much of the game he struggled to leave his mark on the game. Needs to play centrally if we’re to properly utilise his pace.

Macheda – 5 Only one real chance but should have done better from a free header at the near post.

Owen – 7 He did what he does best: – scored goals. Two goals today leaves Sir Alex with choices to make on Sunday. Berbatov and Rooney are likely to start against Bolton, but Owen’s goals tonight should move him ahead of Macheda in the pecking order.

The Champions will be hoping to bounce back in style after the disappointing result at Goodison Park, by beating a West Ham side currently just 4 points above the relegation zone.

United are expected to welcome Rio Ferdinand back into the starting lineup after serving his 4 match ban for violent conduct, alongside Nemanja Vidic who has been absent with a nerve problem. The pair will bring much needed composure to the back line after recent nervy performances by stand-ins Wes Brown and Jonny Evans.

West Ham come to Old Trafford on the back of successive victories against Hull and Birmingham, but boss Gianfranco Zola has hinted that he may make changes.

United are clear favourites for the game, as usual at Old Trafford, but also because West Ham haven’t won an away game since the opening day of the season against Wolves. United beat West Ham convincingly at Upton Park in December.

Having already lost ground on Chelsea in the race for the title, United can’t afford another slip up tonight or they risk gifting the league leaders crucial breathing space. A win tonight puts them one point behind Chelsea who don’t play again until Saturday when they host Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.

Squads

Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, Neville, Brown, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Fabio, Park, Anderson, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher, Obertan, Gibson, Rooney, Owen, Berbatov, Diouf.

West Ham (from): Green, Stech, Spector, Faubert, Upson, Tomkins, Da Costa, Daprela, Parker, Behrami, Kovac, Collison, Noble, Diamanti, Stanislas, Cole, Mido, Ilan, Franco, McCarthy.

Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister were the foundation for much of our early Premier League successes, while Ronny Johnsen and Jaap Stam starred in the famous treble winning side of 1999. More recently, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have forged arguably the best central defensive pairing in world football, propelling Manchester United to 3 consecutive Premier League titles and back to back Champions League finals.

That foundation has been rocked this season by the losses of both Vidic and Ferdinand for sustained periods. Vidic has played a part in 13 Premier League games this season, while England captain Ferdinand has managed just 6.

Last season saw the emergence of Jonny Evans as one of the brighter prospects in football, putting in assured performances against top class opposition and displaying maturity beyond his years. One of the reasons for his form was that he had the class and experience of either Vidic or Ferdinand beside him to show him the way and give him a sense of calmness. With both of his usual partners missing from the tem, Evans has been forced to play alongside Wes Brown, who before this season hadn’t had a sustained run in the centre of defence for over 2 years, and it shows.

On top of that, United have been unable to maintain the kind of consistency they’d like in the goalkeeping department. First choice Edwin Van der Sar has managed just 11 appearance thus far, while Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczac have mustered 8 each. For a team with title ambitions that is a major spanner in the works.

This kind of inconsistency and chopping and changing of the defence affects morale, affects consistency of performances and even affects other areas of the team. For example, without Rio Ferdinand’s calmness on the ball and ability to dribble out of defence and feed the midfielders, we’ve often resorted to pumping the ball up the pitch, often conceding possession when 6ft+ centre halves out-jump lone front man Wayne Rooney.

Our most common centre back pairing this season is Evans and Brown, and with just 9 appearances together all season it gives you an idea of the scale of the crisis we’ve been thorough and are continuing to go through. Indeed I don’t know of any other team that would be able to play their two first choice midfielders in defence and still maintain a challenge domestically and in Europe.

Take John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho out of the Chelsea defence and put Hilario in net and you’ll see a remarkably weaker team. Similarly, take Gallas, Vermaelen and Almunia from Arsenal and you’ll see the same.

Now put Michael Essien and Frank Lampard in Chelsea’s defence and Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song in Arsenal’s. I think you see what I’m getting at. Not only is the defence significantly weaker, but the effect of playing your two best midfielders at the back has a knock on effect on your ability to retain possession and create chances in the middle of the park. No creativity = no service to the forwards and ultimately a lack of goals.

So it’s no surprise that United have failed to dominate the league this year. To still be within shot of Chelsea despite an injury crisis of epic proportions is an astonishing feat by the coaches and the players. And if we finish the season empty handed I’ll still be able to look back on the season knowing we battled against adversity until the very end.

The Argentine scored both of City’s goals in the 2-1 victory at the Eastlands stadium, but Ferguson believes he shouldn’t have been on the pitch after a shocking challenge on Wes Brown.

Going for the ball in a 50-50 challenge with Brown, Tevez raised his foot and raked his studs down Brown’s thigh. Amazingly the referee didn’t even see fit to brandish a yellow card, never mind a red.

“Tevez should have been sent off really,” said Ferguson.

“Have you seen the tackle? He went over the top of the ball.

“He didn’t even get booked!”

His return will be a welcome boost for Manchester United after the major injury crisis they’ve gone through at the back.

Defensive partner Nemanja Vidic is still missing, and with Wes Brown and Jonny Evans seemingly unable to develop a competent partnership, Ferdinand will bring experience and leadership back to the defence.

“I think Rio will play against Hull, which is good news,” Ferguson said.

“He’s been training very well in the last two weeks so it’s time to bring him back.

“It’s a big boost because we’ve had a rough time at the back with Rio, Edwin van der Sar, Wes Brown, Jonny Evans, Nemanja Vidic and John O’Shea all being injured at one stage or another.”

Now I’m not into conspiracy theories. I’ve always been of the opinion that bad decisions happen to every team sporadically throughout the season. And while decisions don’t ever even themselves out like the old wives tale suggests , they do seem to happen to most teams every now and again.

This season has been something different though. Since Fergie had a go at Wiley I can remember very few decisions that have gone in our favour, and many that have gone against us, not least two key decisions tonight.

The first one was the non-existent penalty that was given, and the second was the corner that City scored their second from.

Rafael was naively caught out of position by a good Tevez pass and a good Bellamy run in behind him. Rafael, as he tends to do when caught out of position, had his hands all over Bellamy as he fought to get back into position.

He fouled Bellamy well outside the box and the referee gave nothing. He then fouled Bellamy again still outside the box, but the referee Mike Dean immediately gave a penalty without a moments hesitation, with that usual smug look on his face as if he knows his decision is wrong but he doesn’t care anyway.

Dean justified the penalty by insisting it was for the second foul. This brings up two issues:

If you don’t give the first foul you can’t give the second for the exact same thing. If anything, you allow an advantage to be played and if there is no advantage to be had, you pull it back for the initial foul.

The first foul was well outside the box and the second foul, while being closer to the box, was still outside of it. If this is the foul that Dean has given a penalty for then he has to come out and admit that he’s got the decision wrong.

The second one is more debatable. Should it have been a corner? Personally I think not, but I’d like to see a few more replays before I give my definite opinion.

It wasn’t just those two though. Carlos Tevez went in late with his studs raised and raked them across Wes Brown’s knee. it’s a yellow card offence minimum, but Dean didn’t think so. Further into the game Bellamy went in two footed and late on Valencia. It could have been a yellow card in itself, but to trip a United player 20 seconds later and still not get booked was quite frankly ridiculous.

It’s becoming all too familiar though. Big decisions are going in our opponents favour more often than not and it’s becoming slightly obvious now.

I’m sure City fans won’t care that they should have lost tonight’s game and that Mike Dean has gifted them one foot into their first final since 1981. And I’m sure a lot of them will come on here and call me a sore loser. I’m sure the more deluded ones all of them will all also tell me that it was a definite penalty and they were the better team.

The team going away from the council house tonight aggrieved at the result is obviously us. We dominated the majority of the game and could have won comfortably. At the very least we should have been heading back to Old Trafford with a 1-0 lead and with a proper referee in the second leg we just might be able to put this outrageous result right.

And with a little bit of honesty from the FA, Mike Dean will be refereeing in the Championship next week as punishment for his disgraceful performance tonight.

At one point United were without eight senior defenders, meaning Patrice Evra was the only recognized defender in the team for the away defeat to Fulham.

“I got injured at completely the wrong moment,” he told Sky Sports.

“There were no defenders going into Fulham, just Patrice (Evra) on his own, which was a bit disappointing to say the least.

Brown believes he could have played despite the injury, but thinks he made the right decision to rest rather than risk making it worse and facing a longer spell on the sidelines.

“Maybe I could have played but I felt my hamstring a little bit and the best thing to do was to leave it.

“If I had played I could have made it a lot worse and been out for even longer.”

With Nemanja Vidic expected to be back in ten days, Jonny Evans playing against Leeds on Sunday and Rio Ferdinand hoping to be fit again soon, Brown believes the worst of the injury crisis is behind United.

“Soon we will have everyone back, so it is looking a lot more positive on the injury front, which is good news for the team,” he added.

“This season I have got back in because of injuries and I have done okay.

“We want everyone back but hopefully I can keep doing well.”

United have struggled with eight first senior defenders injured at one point, along with first choice goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, but Sir Alex believes signing new players is not the answer to United’s problems.

Wes Brown, Nemanja Vidic and the Da Silva twins have all returned to somewhat ease United’ injury woes, but with long term questions being asked of both Rio Ferdinand and John O’Shea, speculation has been rife that the united boss would invest in a centre half this January.

“Inevitably, people look to this month’s transfer window as a solution to our injury worries but it is not the answer,” Ferguson told The Sun.

“If someone could give me the name of a really good centre-half who would accept a three-month contract then I would jump at the chance. But where do you find a player like that?

“A decent player would be looking for a three-year contract and I don’t need that kind of addition.

“It is difficult enough leaving good players out of the team without adding another to the mix, so I won’t be looking for a senior player to ease our defensive crisis.

“Hopefully the worst is over anyway and we can get stability at the back. Once we do that, I am sure we will make up the ground we have lost.”

Captain Gary Neville made the bench for Wednesday night’s 5-0 thrashing of Wigan Athletic and Sir Alex expects Jonny Evans to be back with a fortnight. He also believes the united medical staff have finally got to the bottom of the back injury that has plagued Rio Ferdinand for the past two seasons.

“The main thing for Rio is there is no recurrence of the back problem,” said Ferguson. “That is what we have been waiting for.

“We wanted him to come through the test of running and turning. He is doing his programme in the gymnasium, which is good and at the moment it is looking very healthy.”

The bad news for Ferguson is that John O’Shea will be missing for up to two months. When he hobbled off during the Republic of Ireland’s defeat to France in a World Cup tie breaker, it was thought he had suffered nothing more than a dead leg, but it now appears to be much worse than first believed and Ferguson admits losing such a versatile squad player is a massive blow.

“There is no sign of recovery at all for John,” said Ferguson.

“It is his first injury at the club and he is a big loss because he is such a versatile player.

“We just want to get him back but it could be a couple of months yet.”

Goals from Dimitar Berbatov as well as an own goal, were enough to see off Hull, but Ferguson also pointed to the returns of Nemanja Vidic and Wes Brown to the defence as being important.

“Today is a step forward for us,” Sir Alex told MUTV. “We’ve got the win which is very important as we’re entering a crucial stage, and we’ve got two of our centre-backs back which will make a big difference to us. And they were absolutely magnificent.”

Sir Alex praised Stoke’s battling performance and the way they attacked United in the early stages.

“We have to give credit to Hull because they got really stuck into us and put tackles in everywhere. They gave a lot of fouls away which that had an affect on our momentum, but you know that games like this away from home will be tough.”

Special praise was reserved for Wayne Rooney, who gifted Hull a goal with a horrible back pass in the second half, but recovered fantastically by creating the second and third goals to seal the points.

“He was a threat all day,” declared Sir Alex. “He’s a natural winner and his desire is inborn. Yes, he made a mistake, but aside from that one bad moment, he was exceptionally good. He would have been more sick than anyone by his mistake, but he’s rectified it in a nice way.”

The Manchester United defender has stepped in for the injured Rio Ferdinand and has formed a solid partnership with Nemanja Vidic.

“I must say that Nemanja Vidic and Wes Brown have been absolutely fantastic in recent games,” said Ferguson.

“It just reminds you that when Wes Brown is fit, he is the best natural defender in the country. He’s a fantastic defender.

“So is Vidic and their partnership has been fantastic. I’m really pleased about that and that gives you a solid base that you need when you go away from home to places like Portsmouth.”

Ferguson also praised the way Brown has repeatedly come back from injuries.

“You’ve got to pay tribute to the lad,” said the United manager. “He keeps coming back from the serious injuries he’s had in his career.

“He’s had two cruciates, a broken ankle, calf injuries and things like that. Last season he had a very staggered season in terms of interruptions to his consistency.

“But the previous season he was our most consistent defender, the year we won the European Cup in Moscow.

“So now he’s fit again and looking fantastic. He gets better all the time.

“He’s 30 now and I keep thinking he’s only 22 or 23. He’s got such a young approach to life. He’s done well, the lad.”

The defender will get a chance to impress Capello this weekend as England take on Brazil. Glen Johnson has made the right back spot his own recently, but his absence through injury will give Brown crucial game time in his bid to make it to South Africa.

“Glen has come in and done brilliantly with England and that’s why he’s playing at the moment,” said Brown. “He has shown great ability and I think it was a great move for him to go to Liverpool and he has played well all season.

“He’s shown that, if you’re playing well, you’ll get picked, and I’ve got to follow that example and hopefully stay in this squad. For myself I need to stay 100% fit and, with that, I need to play well when I get a chance.

“That’s all I’m looking for this season. When I get my chance I’ve got to take it, and hopefully I can help the team as a result.”

Graham Taylor has questioned Rio’s long term future with both Manchester united and England, stating that “his legs have gone”. But Sir Alex has defended Rio, insisting his quality has not been diminished by injuries.

“In my time here, we have always had one of our star players finding he gets criticised when he has a little blip,” he said.

“It seems to be part and parcel of being a player at Manchester United. We are all aware of that.

“No player likes to be criticised. We all like to be loved and want arms around our shoulders at times.

“But he will come out of it – there is no question about that.

“There is no discernible depreciation in his qualities – none at all.”

Rio has insisted he needs a run of games to find his form, and that’s an opinion Sir Alex wholeheartedly agrees with. Unfortunately time seems to be running out in the race to be fit for Sunday’s clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, as both Rio and Nemanja Vidic are expected to miss tomorrow’s Champions League group game against CSKA Moscow.

“Playing with injury is not the easiest thing to do, and we are trying to get it right,” said Ferguson.

“Calf injuries can be troublesome.

“If you don’t arrest it and give it proper treatment then you can end up the way we are now, and playing in games when you are not 100% fit.

“It is difficult to say about the weekend. He is doing some good work, and we hope we will see improvement in the two of them.”

It’s not all negative though. Sir Alex has Wes Brown back in the frame after a prolonged period of injury.

“The great thing for Wes Brown is that he has remained fit this year,” said Ferguson.

“Last season, he had a terrible run of injuries. But the previous year, he made the most appearances and played in the final in Moscow.

“When he is fit and we bring him in there is no better defender in the country. He is a real true defender.

“I have no worries about Sunday in terms of Brown and Evans – absolutely no worries at all.”