Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is facing a defensive headache ahead of the Premier League match against Blackburn at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand are both doubtful with calf problems and Gary Neville is suspended.

Ryan Giggs also has a knock and Danny Welbeck, who scored in the Carling Cup victory against Barnsley in midweek, is sidelined with a knee injury.

Darren Fletcher and Ji-Sung Park remain absent with groin and knee injuries respectively.

Jason Roberts is the latest Blackburn player to come down with suspected swine flu.

The striker did not report to training on Friday morning and is almost certain to miss out.

One player also thought to have suffered with the virus is David Dunn, but the midfielder looked to be in good health when he came off the bench against Peterborough in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night, and is set to play again.

Another is Chris Samba, who is back in training but unlikely to feature as he is still feeling weak.

Pascal Chimbonda returns having recovered from his calf injury and Vince Grella is back in training after his thigh problem, but is unlikely to appear for the first team until next week.

Teams:

Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, O'Shea, Vidic, Ferdinand, Brown, J Evans, Evra, Anderson, Rafael, Carrick, Scholes, Valencia, Giggs, Rooney, Barbatov, Nani, Owen, Macheda, Obertan, Fabio, Tosic.

Blackburn (from): Robinson, Chimbonda, Salgado, Givet, Nelsen, Diouf, Andrews, Pedersen, Dunn, Brown, Jacobsen, Nzonzi, Emerton, Hoilett, Kalinic, McCarthy, Olsson, Jones, Di Santo.