Dyn Bucharest v Man Utd Kick-off: 7.45Alex Ferguson's need for a new striker has been exacerbated by the news that Ruud van Nistelrooy may be out until early October.
Originally expected to be back from a hernia operation in the next three weeks, Van Nistelrooy's diagnosis has been revised to twice that length, prompting Ferguson to widen his search for another high-calibre forward.
Yesterday, Ferguson, asked about when he would get his star striker back, admitted there was a problem saying: "Ruud is a straightforward one, he should be back training certainly in a month and should be back playing in six weeks so we know the timescale there."
Ideally, his first choice as a replacement would be Wayne Rooney but Ferguson is aware of the financial implications in trying to lure the England player from Everton. So United are considering recruiting a foreign striker, possibly on loan, while van Nistelrooy is unavailable. Rooney remains a target but a move is unlikely to be imminent.
With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer out for the season and Louis Saha for at least three weeks, Ferguson had hardly touched down in Romania for tonight's Champions League qualifier with Dinamo Bucharest before indicating he would instigate talks with the club's chief executive David Gill about access transfer funds.
Ferguson said they were "going to have to take stock of the situation" regarding his strikers but whether significant money is made available will depend, first and foremost, on how United fare against the 14-times Romanian champions. Qualifying would guarantee at least £15 million and on that basis alone Ferguson and his weakened squad, with nine players missing, cannot afford any slip-ups tonight.
Ferguson has already described this close-season as the most problematic in his time at United. But the biggest difficulty facing United might not be Dinamo's ability but the sub-standard pitch. Last night they trained elsewhere because of an electrical storm and Ferguson did not want a troublesome surface to be made any worse.
"We should be good enough to get through but you can always have these stumbles," said Ferguson. "Remember what happened in Budapest when we controlled the whole game and lost to a last-minute goal. This team could do that to us as well."
He was referring to two seasons ago when United lost 1-0 to Zalaegerszegi.
One reason for optimism is the impressive pre-season form of Alan Smith. Ferguson said: "I can't speak highly enough about how he has settled in - he's been a revelation."
PROBABLE-LINE-UPS
DINAMO BUCHAREST (3-4-1-2): Gaev; Ciobotariu, Alistar, Iordache; Irimia, Tames, Margaritescu, Semeghin; Petre; Niculescu, Danciulescu.
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-4-1-1): Howard; P Neville, G Neville, Silvestre, O'Shea; Fletcher, Keane, Djemba-Djemba, Giggs; Scholes; Smith.
