Striker headache for Fergie ahead of derby showdown

Sir Alex Ferguson faces a tough decision in selecting the players to play in the Manchester derby. The United boss has said that all his players are desperate to start the game.

The Red Devils have a 15-point lead over rivals Manchester City and will look to all but seal the title race on Monday, when the two teams will meet at Old Trafford.

“These are the games that everyone wants to be involved in, the derby games,” Sir Alex said. “Over the last few years the derby games have been far more important than they ever were, so we’ve all been looking forward to them. But we’ve had a heavy programme leading up to the game so we just have to manage it.”

United have had a good run in the title race this season and could win their 20th League trophy.

“The form in the league has been very good,” admits the boss. “But the international break came at a difficult time for us, in terms of preparing for the following fixtures. We had the game on the Saturday against Sunderland and then the Cup replay against Chelsea on the Monday, after so many of the players had played two international games. And the calibre of player that we have means they always play for their international teams, that’s for sure.”

Fergie has Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck as attacking options. “With van Persie, we have to monitor it because we still don’t know all about Robin, and the kind of seasons he’s had. I don’t think he had a season of such intensity during his time at Arsenal, so we’ll have to look at that. Welbeck’s looking strong as well, as is Chicharito.” he said.