Park's double talk says it all for coy Fergie

'Yes, I think we can win the Champions League,' said Park at an Old Trafford press conference ahead of Wednesday's quarter-final second leg against Roma. 'And I think we can win the League, the Double, too.'

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With his team's season reaching what promises to be an exciting crescendo over the next few weeks, Ferguson appears intent on playing down expectations.

As a policy it is a perfectly understandable because he knows the dangers of complacency. Nevertheless, the United manager must surely appreciate that his team stand on the very edge of opportunity.

Leading 2-0 against a moderate Roma side and in all likelihood facing the prospect of a semi-final tie against a deteriorating Barcelona side, United have a wonderful chance of reaching their first Champions League Final since 1999.

Perhaps it is the memories that prompt Ferguson's caution. Failing to overcome German side Bayer Leverkusen over two legs in the 2002 semi-final certainly left its mark.

Asked if he believed his team to be the best in Europe, Ferguson said: 'I watch games in Europe and see different types of football which makes it too difficult to assess our position. The best way to assess it, the only way to assess it, is if we get to the final.

'In football you can be the best team and lose. I've seen it happen time and time again. That's why we won't be in the FA Cup Final.

'Hopefully, by the law of averages, your performances mean something. Hopefully we can produce performances that get us to the final. It won't be easy. If we get by this one then we'll probably face Barcelona, a marvellous football club with a great team, which shows you these things are never easy.

'It's our best chance of reaching the semi-finals. That goes without saying. If we get to the semis, then just like the other three teams involved, we can start thinking about the final.

'You have to have that ambition and hope you have that opportunity. But the sensible approach is for us to wait until after the game against Roma and then hopefully we can start to dream.'

This was hardly Churchillian stuff from Ferguson. Then again, he does not have to be at his motivational best right now.

After beating Roma in the Olympic Stadium last week and facing Luciano Spalletti's team five times in the last year, Ferguson knows that the greatest danger at Old Trafford is likely to come from within.

Despite Rio Ferdinand undergoing a fitness test on his injured foot this morning, United are expected to be without both him and his regular central defensive partner Nemanja Vidic.

The scale of that problem cannot be overstated. Statistics show that United's win ratio drops by 50 per cent when the two men do not play.

Presuming Ferdinand misses out, United will have to rely on the talented but unpredictable Spaniard Gerard Pique to fill one of the holes, with Wes Brown and John O'Shea — both poor in the draw at Middlesbrough on Sunday — competing to play alongside him.

Gary Neville and Mikael Silvestre are both in Ferguson's squad, and while the England veteran has little more than an outside chance of starting Silvestre is expected to play at left back in place of fellow Frenchman Patrice Evra.

'We made two mistakes on Sunday at Middlesbrough,' said Ferguson, acknowledging his defensive concerns.

'It was a surprise to lose goals like that. But it shows what can happen. When I see opponents playing I'm always looking for chinks in their armour and Spalletti will have been looking at that game for chinks in ours.

'Football can change in an instant. We started well at Middlesbrough, scored a goal and should have been a couple up.

'But a couple of decisions didn't go our way and all of a sudden we were scrambling around and losing 2-1. Things can happen but we have to make sure it doesn't happen on this occasion.

'We have one foot in the semi-final and in order to get there we have to go out against Roma and approach the game in the proper fashion.'

Roma arrived in Manchester suitably realistic about their chances. With captain Francesco Totti back in Italy and midfielder Alberto Aquilani also struggling with injury, Spalletti was at pains to apologise for comments made about Cristiano Ronaldo after the first game.

Ronaldo was accused of showboating at the Olympic Stadium last Tuesday but Spalletti said: 'The things said by our club were in the heat of the moment.

'Our comments had the bitterness of defeat in them, and we said things we normally would not.

'Ronaldo is an excellent player. He is an exuberant player and a fair player. 'He is a very correct player.'

PROBABLE LINE-UP

MANCHESTER UNITED (4-4-1-1): Van der Sar; Brown, O'Shea, Pique, Silvestre; Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Anderson; Giggs; Rooney.

ROMA (4-2-3-1): Doni; Cicinho, Mexes, Juan, Cassetti; Pizarro, De Rossi; Taddei, Perrotta, Mancini; Vucinic.

Referee: Thomas Henning (Norway).

TV: Sky Sports 2 from 7pm (kick-off 7.45).