UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, LAST 16, FIRST LEG:THE INTERVIEW room was hot and airless and Alex Ferguson had plenty on his mind. The Manchester United manager was about to take his players on the San Siro pitch for a training session with Rio Ferdinand his only fit centre half and not one orthodox right-back – unless we are counting Richard Eckersley, a teenage reserve who has never started a senior match.

What, Ferguson was asked, were the options if Jonny Evans and John O’Shea failed fitness tests in the morning? “The options are, we panic,” he replied.

Ferguson went on to joke that Dimitar Berbatov, sitting to his right, might be required to play as a sweeper. But the humour was short-lived. Ferguson could not remember the last time his defensive options were so threadbare and he was almost reluctant to admit that the Da Silva twin who could play at right back was Fabio rather than the more experienced Rafael. Fabio, a left back by trade, has made only one appearance in his United career, playing for 53 minutes in the FA Cup defeat of Tottenham Hotspur last month.

With Rafael damaging his ankle in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat of Blackburn Rovers, a more feasible option is Darren Fletcher will play on the right of defence if, as Ferguson expects, Evans is ruled out because of his sprained ankle.

Gary Neville, with a muscular strain in his lower leg, and Wes Brown, with a broken metatarsal, are not in Milan and, though Nemanja Vidic trained as normal, it looks increasingly likely his one-match suspension for being sent off in the World Club Cup could have costly repercussions.

O’Shea has a heel injury and, apart from Ferdinand, Fabio and Patrice Evra, the only other fit defender in United’s squad is Eckersley, whose United career consists of two substitute appearances and a total of 56 minutes playing with the first-team.

“These are big concerns for us,” said Ferguson. “We just have to get on with it because there is still a great opportunity to take Inter back to Old Trafford with a good, sound result. But I wish we were in a better position defensively.

“O’Shea is having a light training session but Jonny Evans is unable to train. I’m hoping one of them makes it – the more likely is O’Shea – but then we’ve got the problem of right back. It’s a real worry for us.”

In the circumstances, Ferguson was in good spirits, rolling his eyes theatrically when Jose Mourinho’s words from an earlier press conference were put to him and even trying a bit of Italian, with little success, to ask for some air conditioning. But the prospect of Fabio or Eckersley facing the best team in Italy is not one that many United fans will want to contemplate and, lest it be forgotten, O’Shea has been in danger in recent seasons of becoming the player the fans dislike the most.

Ferguson countered that “young players never disappoint you” and tried to exude the impression he had confidence in every member of his travelling party. “When young players show their potential at the right moment, and you can judge their temperament from big occasions like this, I take more out of that than anything.”

Yet Ferguson is also acutely aware his emergency defence – the worst-case scenario is Evans and O’Shea both miss out and either Fletcher or Michael Carrick has to partner Ferdinand in the centre – will be facing one of Europe’s in-form strikers. The manager described Zlatan Ibrahimovic as “the star player for Inter,” adding the Sweden striker was having a “fantastic season” and “getting all the praise he deserves”.

Ibrahimovic, according to Ferguson, has reached a point of his career where, at 27, he is now playing with “maturity” as well as his natural talent. The same, he hopes, will apply to his own players and he reminded us what had happened when United played at San Siro in the semi-finals two years ago.

United lost that 3-0 to Milan and Ferguson had been unusually critical of Cristiano Ronaldo afterwards. “You could see the immaturity in the boy,” he recalled. “But we’re seeing a different boy now. I want to see maturity in Ronaldo here. We need that from all the players – maturity, to handle the atmosphere and the occasion.”

That night in 2007 was a chastening one for United and, though Ferguson did not mention it, he had considerable problems in defence then, with Neville and Ferdinand missing and Vidic rushed back from a broken collarbone.