Ferguson bemoans his lack of Fortune

David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand will know tomorrow if they have a chance of being fit in time to face Deportivo la Coruña in the Champions' League at Old Trafford on Wednesday, while Quinton Fortune will definitely be out for the match.

United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Fortune will be missing for three months after breaking his leg. The South African midfielder suffered the injury towards the end of United's 2-1 victory over Liverpool last weekend. Fortune had impressed in a central-midfield role in the absence of injured trio Roy Keane, Nicky Butt and Beckham.

The England captain has been sidelined with a rib injury while Ferdinand has been troubled by a thigh problem. Both players are set to join in for full train- ing tomorrow after being limited to running and light exercises.

Ferguson said: "Ferdinand and Beckham are running well and if they get into the football part [of training] on Monday they could be considered for the Deportivo game."

Having them available to face the Spanish side would be a major fillip for the Old Trafford manager, who has been forced to field depleted sides for the majority of the season after a raft of injuries to key players. United have the chance to build on a good start to the second phase, which saw them defeat Basle 3-1 in Switzerland 10 days ago. That same night in Group D, Deportivo had to settle for a 2-2 draw at home to Juventus after taking a two-goal lead.

With the Champions' League shutting down until February after the midweek matches, United have a great chance of putting some distance between themselves and the pack. The Spanish side were knocked out at the quarter-final stage last season by Ferguson's men, but they remain extremely dangerous opponents.

Arsenal are running out of goalkeepers before they restart their campaign with Tuesday's visit to Highbury of Valencia. With David Seaman already out with a groin problem, the Swede Rami Shaaban was forced off the pitch at Old Trafford yesterday with a thigh injury and is out for three weeks.

Stuart Taylor, Arsenal's third-choice goalkeeper, came on for Shaaban and is now favourite to start against the Spanish champions. The 22-year-old impressed when he was called on at a similar stage last season in matches against Manchester United and Juventus, with Arsenal winning both 3-1.

The problem for the Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, however, is who will be his goalkeeping substitute. The 21-year-old Graham Stack, who was on the bench for 13 Premiership matches last season, is currently on loan at Beveren in Belgium and is unlikely to be able to provide cover for Taylor. So Wenger may need to look to Craig Holloway, 18, who only signed professional terms in the summer.