United pay for success

MANCHESTER United paid a heavy price for reaching the final of the Carling Cup after last night picking up SEVEN injuries in their victory against Derby County.

And so bereft were United of players that they ended with effectively eight men after Nani limped off while Jonny Evans and Anderson were hobbling badly at the finish.

Brazilian Anderson appears the most serious of the casualties as he left the field on a stretcher after the final whistle and was taken to hospital for an x-ray on his injured ankle.

Rafael Da Silva, who came off in the first half, has a hamstring strain while Nani tweaked a groin muscle and Evans has been ruled out for at least a week with an ankle problem.

Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, and Carlos Tevez also picked up knocks, though they are not believed to be serious.

The Reds are already without injured players including Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Owen Hargreaves and Wes Brown.

But the likes of Edwin van der Sar, Nemanja Vidic, Ji-Sung Park, Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov, who were all rested last night, will return for Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round tie against Tottenham at Old Trafford.