SOCCER:Alex Ferguson is convinced the imminent departure of Henrik Larsson will not have a negative effect on Manchester United's trophy quest. Larsson's 10-week stint will come to an end next Saturday when United meet Middlesbrough for a place in the FA Cup semi-finals.
The Swede is due to appear at Old Trafford one more time after that, although he will be in the opposition ranks when a European Select XI takes on United as part of the club's celebration of 50 years since their own entry into European competition.
When the deal for Larsson to join Ferguson's squad was initially concluded, few expected the striker to return to Helsingborg as scheduled. But Ferguson is determined to honour the deal.
"Henrik has been terrific but his leaving won't have a negative effect," said Ferguson. "The timing of his spell here has actually been tremendous because Louis Saha picked up a little injury in December and now he is flying again. When you reach this stage of the season, all you do is look forward to matches, which is what we are going to do."
Larsson's brief contribution has only emphasised what Ferguson lost with his failure to attract the 35-year-old to Old Trafford during the peak of his career at Celtic. While the United manager does not put missing out on Larsson in the same category as Paul Gascoigne, he does wish the player had been more receptive to his initial approaches.
"Paul Gascoigne could have joined us but he just made the wrong decision," recalled Ferguson. "Henrik's reasoning was far more sensible. He was very much attached to Celtic and that made it difficult for us."
Ferguson expects Uefa to "come down strongly" on Lille once the dust has settled on their acrimonious Champions League meeting. After having a second appeal against United's 1-0 first-leg win rejected by European football's governing body on Saturday, the French club are currently considering whether to take their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
It means Wednesday's return match at Old Trafford will take place against the backdrop of the whole tie being declared void if the final ruling confirms Ryan Giggs' quickly-taken free-kick should not have been allowed to stand. Such a ruling appears inconceivable.
Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney had a scan yesterday to determine the extent of the knee problem he sustained at Liverpool on Saturday. Rooney, injured when he went in for a tackle with Jamie Carragher, could be a doubt for the Lille tie.
