Manchester United can draw on a strong squad and a great away record to help them avoid an early Champions League exit, manager Alex Ferguson after Dimitar Berbatov was the latest injured player to be ruled out of the FC Basel match.
The Bulgarian did not recover from an ankle injury in time to make the trip to Switzerland, where United need a draw on Wednesday (December 7) in Group C to secure a place in the last 16.
He is the third United striker to be sidelined, joining Javier Hernandez and Michael Owen who face another few weeks out. Anderson has been ruled out until February with a knee problem, while fellow midfielder Tom Cleverley is also missing.
Ferguson believes he has enough talented players to cope with the absences as last season's runners-up seek to avoid an embarrassing group-stage elimination.
"You say we're not doing well, we're second in the league of course and we are at the stage where we can be qualifying for the European Champions League next phase so I think that we've had to, of course, contend with quite a few injuries this year and it's not been helpful but we have a strong squad and that squad will see us through, " Ferguson told a news conference in Basel.
The three-times European champions have qualified from the group stage for the last five years in a row and will take some comfort from the fact they have lost only one away game in the Champions League since 2007.
Basel know the weight of expectation lies on United and are hoping to capitalise on their underdog status by sneaking a win that would put them through at the expense of the English club.
Reuters