Blow for Arsenal as Rio Ferdinand looks set to play

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The 30-year-old went off injured in the final minutes of Wednesday's first leg 1-0 win at Old Trafford after suffering a rib injury in a collision with goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

Although Ferdinand spent the night in hospital, X-rays have confirmed he only suffered severe bruising and the defender was discharged last night with a course of painkillers designed to ease the swelling.

The England centre-back will miss tomorrow's League clash with Middlesbrough, with Jonny Evans set to deputise at the heart of United's defence as they look to tighten their grip on the title by moving six points clear ahead of Liverpool, who play Newcastle at Anfield on Sunday.

A final decision on whether he plays against Arsenal will be taken early next week but Ferdinand is hopeful of playing an active part in helping the European champions through.

United dominated the Gunners in the first leg and full-back Patrice Evra admitted no one in Sir Alex Ferguson's camp was happy with registering a solitary goal.

"We're happy about the way we played but we deserved more goals and we could have won 4-0, that would have been normal," said Evra, who Ferguson has suggested will start at the Riverside Stadium tomorrow.

"Now we need to focus on the away leg. We can score anywhere, which is why I'm confident. The target before the game was to win and keep a clean sheet but the way the game was, nobody was happy with 1-0 - we wanted more goals.

"We are very disappointed, believe me — we should have scored at least two more goals. We are not even thinking about Rome."