8 Dec 2009

Man U without Vidic in European clash

6:14 am on 8 December 2009

Manchester United's injury crisis has worsened with the news defender Nemanja Vidic will miss their European Champions League football tie at Wolfsburg in Germany tomorrow.

The Serb has a flu bug and been left at home, with United already through to the last 16 of the tournament.

Vidic joins Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, Gary Neville, Rafael da Silva, Fabio da Silva, Johnny Evans and John O'Shea on the sidelines for United.

Michael Carrick will play at centre-back, possibly with Darren Fletcher.

United had hoped Vidic would have recovered from the flu bug that kept him out of Saturday's win at West Ham, but he failed to make the flight to Germany.

Oliver Gill, son of chief executive David, Magnus Eikrem, Cameron Stewart, Matt James and Oliver Norwood are all unfamiliar faces who were included in United's 19-man squad.

United have already booked their place in the Champions League knockout stages but still need a point to be sure of finishing top of the group, which would theoretically give them an easier tie in the next round.