Sir Alex waits on Evra

Sir Alex has revealed Patrice Evra is a doubt for Sunday's Barclays Premier League opener at West Brom.

The French full-back suffered a knee injury at Wembley in last weekend's Community Shield and was forced to withdraw from international duty in midweek. The boss will give him until Saturday to prove he has recovered before finalising his team for the trip to The Hawthorns.

Darren Fletcher and Antonio Valencia are both ruled out, but will feature for the Reserves against Arsenal on Monday instead as they step up their return to the first-team picture. Javier Hernandez is still 10 days away as a precaution following the concussion he suffered whilst training in the United States.

"We've got a doubt with Patrice Evra," explained the manager. "He got an injury last Sunday, he missed the France game. We'll give him until tomorrow but he is doubtful.

"Darren Fletcher's training very well and he'll play in the Reserves on Monday, so will Valencia. Chicharito is still maybe 10 days away from taking part in any football training. It's not a concern, it's just a precaution given the fact he had concussion a couple of years back. They're the only injuries we've got really. We've got a strong squad at the moment, a big squad and I'll be taking 22 players down to West Brom."

The boss expects a tough game against Roy Hodgson's Baggies and admitted the Reds were lucky to pick up all three points in the fixture last term when Peter Odemwingie missed a penalty. However, he praised the young players who shone against City with Phil Jones, Tom Cleverley, Chris Smalling and Danny Welbeck all pushing for inclusion after impressing in the 3-2 success.

"I think picking my team is made easier by the second-half performance last week in some ways," said the boss. "But I still have to respect the experience of the ones who came off at half-time.

"When you're 2-0 down in these big games, you don't expect what we saw. But Welbeck has played two or three times for us at Wembley in the League Cup final and FA Cup semi-final, so, for him, we know his temperament for the big occasion.

"What we wanted to find out was how Jones equipped himself, Smalling and Cleverley too, and they did fantastic. We should know about Cleverley because he's been with us a long time, he's been with us since he was 12 years of age. You get to know boys in depth during that time, you get to know their temperament and their character. The only reason I didn't start Cleverley was I just felt the powerful players they have in midfield like Yaya Toure made me a bit cautious about playing him from the start."