Manchester United's David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand needed to pass fitness tests today to find out if they could play in tomorrow's Champions League clash with Spain's Deportivo La Coruna.
But United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is tempted to stick with the line-up which beat Arsenal on Saturday even though the England duo are close to a return and the World Cup stars could find themselves on the bench.
United are aiming to chalk up their second successive win in the second phase. They got off to a flying start by beating Basle 3-1 in Switzerland two weeks ago.
Now they are looking to maintain that advantage before the Champions League closes down until February.
United know all about Deportivo. The Spanish side beat them home and away in the first group stage last season.
Ferguson got his revenge in the quarter-finals with similar results before they went out to Bayer Leverkusen.
Star absentee Ryan Giggs realises they have a dangerous mission.
"It sometimes happens where you go through stages of meeting the same team," he said.
"It seems to be Deportivo with United at the moment. We obviously know a lot about them as we have played them so much.
"We also know they won't be fazed about coming to Old Trafford as they have come here and won. It is going to be a tough game and we need to be on our game." PA