Rafael on the attack

Rafael is relishing the chance to continue his forays forward in Saturday's clash with Wigan Athletic after already opening his goal account for the season.
The Brazilian has been joining the attack with increased purpose this term and, after scoring for his country in the Olympics, he nodded home during the last Old Trafford outing against Fulham. It was his third goal for the club after earlier efforts against Arsenal away in 2008/09, and at home to Wigan in the following campaign.
"When I was younger, I played as a striker," Rafael told United Review, the official matchday programme. "I like heading the ball and it was great to score [against Fulham] – it was a really good cross by Ashley [Young] and I was in a good position. I enjoy getting forward – I just love football!
"Of course, as a player you can always improve something. I think I need to improve my defending and I have said this since I arrived here. I keep working hard at that and I will keep working to try and improve."
Rafael is hoping the Reds can erase memories of last April's 1-0 reverse at the DW Stadium, a result that proved costly during the title run-in.
"I didn’t play but I remember watching and it was a bad game at such an important time of the season," he explained. "It was very bad. Hopefully things will be different because we are at home, but we know it will be hard because Wigan are a better team than they were earlier this year."

SAF Liverpool Vs Man United Match

On facing Liverpool next week after the Hillsborough report: "It shouldn't need what happened this week to change things [between United and Liverpool supporters]. Two great clubs, ourselves and Liverpool, should understand each other's problems. The fact we're playing them after the findings we've been reading about in the last few days does brings a focus to it. Both clubs have suffered such tremendous fatalities through football. Maybe it's a line in the sand now in terms of how supporters behave towards each other. The reputation of both clubs doesn't deserve trouble. You hope supporters of both teams support their club and that's the end of it."

EXCLUSIVE: Scholes And Ferdinand on Giggs 600 PL Games

On landmarks for Giggs [600 Premier League games], Scholes and Ferdinand: "My personal feeling is that Ryan can play for another couple of years. Paul's a different physical specimen to Ryan and he's had his injuries - two knee injuries, an eye injury - and yet he's playing his 700th game. It's phenomenal. Rio's playing his 400th game. It's a landmark for the three players and it's a great example to the younger players about what can be achieved if they sacrifice in football. These players have done that or they would never have got to this stage."

EXCLUSIVE: Team News Today

Sir Alex on team news for the Wigan match: "On the injury front, everyone's fit, Apart from the ones we know about - Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. Jones was a bad blow for us. He got an injury in training last weekend. He'll be out for 8-10 weeks. We expect Smalling to be back training inside a month. But with Jonny Evans now back we're in better shape at centre-back than we were a couple of weeks ago."

EXCLUSIVE: SAF On players returning from internationals:

SAF: "You always have concerns about players travelling [long distances] in international breaks - we had Chicharito, Valencia and Kagawa. They've all done it before, although with Shinji we don't know exactly how he reacts to travelling back from long distances. Hopefully he'll be okay."

EXCLUSIVE: SAF On Fletcher Return

On Darren Fletcher: "Darren's training well and played in the reserves on Tuesday night. The next step is when we can involve him in a game in the first team. He's in the squad tomorrow, simply because I think it will give him a boost. It's a chance to progress. At this moment in time everything's going fine for him. We understand the condition he has to deal with - that can change but hopefully he's managed to conquer it in terms of his diet and how he handles it. Things are going well at the moment."

Injury boost for Reds

Summer signings Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa are fit for the Barclays Premier League visit of Wigan Athletic on Saturday, but Phil Jones could be sidelined for up to 10 more weeks.
There was speculation van Persie and Kagawa could miss the game after picking up strains on international duty in midweek, but Sir Alex has confirmed they will be available to face the Latics.
The news is not so good for Jones, who recently underwent surgery on a knee injury sustained in training, but Chris Smalling is not far off a return to action. Meanwhile, Darren Fletcher has been included in the squad as he continues his recovery from illness.
"On the injury front, everyone's fit, apart from the ones we know about – Jones and Smalling," said Sir Alex at his Friday press conference.
"Jones was a bad blow for us. He got an injury in training last weekend and he'll be out for eight to 10 weeks.
"We expect Smalling to be back training by the end of the month. There's a little bit of comfort in that sense, given our centre-back situation. But with Jonny [Evans] back we're in a better position than we were a couple of weeks ago.
"Darren's in the squad tomorrow, simply because I think it will give him a boost. It's a chance to progress. At this moment in time everything's going fine for him."
The Reds boss expressed his concern about the distances his players travelled with their respective countries in midweek, with Japan's Kagawa, Ecuador's Antonio Valencia and Mexico's Javier Hernandez
all involved in long-haul trips for World Cup qualifiers.
"You always have concerns about players travelling in international breaks – we had Chicharito, Valencia and Kagawa," he said.
"They've all done it before, although with Shinji we don't know exactly how he reacts to travelling back from long distances. Hopefully he'll be okay."