SOCCER/FA Cup news: Millwall's player-manager Dennis Wise has joined Manchester United's captain Roy Keane in the race to be fit for Saturday's FA Cup final after breaking down in training on Monday.
Keane has come through the past two days' training unscathed and appears to be on course for an appearance in the final. The signs for Wise are less positive, however.
In a desperate attempt to be fit for a fifth FA Cup final, Wise has flown to Rome to see the muscular-injury specialist who the former Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli sent him to when a similar injury flared up in their Stamford Bridge days.
"Unfortunately Dennis tried to have a little jog on Monday and he's had a slight relapse on a problem he's had over the past couple of weeks," said the assistant, Ray Wilkins. "He is away in Italy and he's getting some alternative treatment and hopefully - but we're only hopeful - he'll be able to play."
"He'll be having some deep massage. In Italy they have specialist sports-injury doctors and masseurs and they've used this system for many, many years. Dennis had a similar problem before and he went to this guy. Within four days he was as sound as a pound and he managed to play 90 minutes."
The Millwall assistant manager is aware of how devastating Wise's absence would be for a side already missing the injured Kevin Muscat and Tony Warner and the suspended Danny Dichio, the three most senior players in the first division club's squad.
"We'll give it to 2.55 p.m. - even 3.05 p.m. - to see how the young bounder goes," Wilkins added. "But it will be Dennis's decision. He knows his own body, he's been playing a very long time and he's a very fit human being, he doesn't have to do too much training."
Keane is aiming to become the first player to appear in six post-war FA Cup finals, and his run-out at United's Carrington training base yesterday suggests he is likely to shrug off a hamstring injury. Keane has been troubled by the injury since February and missed the last three games in the Premiership.
Manager Alex Ferguson had given Keane until yesterday to prove his fitness and, providing Keane suffers no reaction to his exertions, he is almost certain to play. If he is fit, it would leave Ferguson with a major dilemma over the make-up of his side to face Wise's men.
Darren Fletcher would previously have been thought of as the obvious choice to stand down from the team that defeated Aston Villa last weekend. However, the Scotland international was impressive at Villa Park, as he was in the previous week's draw against Chelsea.
Fletcher's extra attacking edge in midfield could persuade Ferguson to name him in his starting line-up with Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs expected to occupy the wide positions. Phil Neville is the man most at risk of losing his place, although John O'Shea could miss out as Neville could fill the left-back berth.
Meanwhile, Millwall's resources are stretched to breaking point with at least 11 first-team players injured or suspended. For that reason, 17-year-old midfielder Curtis Weston has been promoted into the squad despite making just one senior appearance for the club, as a substitute.
But Wilkins insists Millwall have complete faith in such youngsters to perform in the first FA Cup Final in the club's 119-year history. He said: "We feel we have some very talented young men at the club and we feel they wouldn't be at the club if we weren't prepared to put them in."
