Alex Ferguson will be beaming from ear to ear after United’s win and tonight’s result at Eastlands, but Sir Alex does appear to be contending with a defensive crisis after suffering further injury setbacks in the 4-0 demolition of West Ham.

Ferguson will no doubt be cuddling up to the cosy comfort blanket, ironically provided by Carlos Tevez’ winner for Man City on his way back to Manchester tonight, but he could still suffer a restless night following injuries to Neville and Brown; adding to the absence of Vidic, Ferdinand, O’Shea and Evans before kick-off…

Both Evans and O’Shea remained sidelined with calf and thigh injuries respectively, while Van der Sar’s knee injury kept him out with Kuszcak again deputising today. Vidic added to Ferguson’s woes, falling ill prior to kick-off. That meant that United started with Fletcher at right-back, Evra on the left and Neville and Brown paired in the centre. The makeshift pairing lasted just 36 minutes, with Neville departing with a groin injury. Ferguson reacted by pitching Carrick into the centre of his defence, only to see Brown fall foul of a knock late to limp from the pitch.

We await news on the injuries in the next 48 hours but with United facing Wolfsburg on Tuesday in the Champions League, Ferguson already seems resigned to be struggling for numbers at the back…

“I don’t know where I’m going to get a back four for Tuesday..I am hoping Nemanja Vidic will be okay for Wednesday. He missed the game with flu. We will probably play with Michael Carrick again. I thought he did very well. He has got the height and got the composure.”

This would suggest that there could be continued doubt about Evans, O’Shea, Neville and Brown are available for the weekend clash with Villa. This all maintains Evra, an emergency centre-back today, as the hot property in the United back four as they embark on their extended run of kind fixtures over Christmas and New Year.