United Boss Ponders Options

David Moyes is pondering his selection options ahead of Tuesday night's derby with Manchester City.

United fielded Michael Carrick and Phil Jones as a makeshift central defensive pairing at West Ham, and came away with a clean sheet and a 2-0 victory. Although skipper Nemanja Vidic is still suspended for midweek, Rio Ferdinand may be available to return, with Patrice Evra also apparently under consideration. Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling have been sidelined, thus limiting the potential candidates to play in the middle.

"Michael did great at centre-half," explained Moyes. "He's played there before so it wasn't a problem. We even considered putting Marouane Fellaini back there as well, so I think we’ve got people who can do that if we have to.

"We gave Pat a rest but, if we have to, I think we can put him there as well and he would cope manfully. It was great that the squad mucked in and that’s the way it should be, when you are short in areas and it’s all hands to the pumps. We were short on Saturday and Michael certainly played really well."

Although striker Robin van Persie's injury is a real blow, the Dutchman's absence saw Juan Mata impress in a more central position, promoting his claims to retain the role for the clash against Manuel Pellegrini's title chasers.

"There is no club in Europe who wouldn't want van Persie at centre-forward," insisted the boss. "And he is a massive miss. He changed the game against Olympiacos with the goals he scored.

"Mata came here to play two or three positions. We knew that. You’re never going to go through a season with no injuries. I mentioned that in one of my early press conferences, that players would get injured and you won’t always have Wayne Rooney or Robin van Persie fit for every game.

"That’s why you need a squad of players and Juan has come in and played well. He played very well on Saturday – he’s done well in all the games but, on Saturday, he was closer to scoring himself and maybe should have done on a couple of occasions."