Rio Ferdinand limped out of United’s FA Cup win over Fulham on Saturday and now faces a race against time to be fit for Internazionale’s visit to Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Ferdinand appeared to roll his ankle as he pursued Fulham forward Bobby Zamora shortly before half-time. The England defender played on but failed to emerge for the second half.

“Rio’s a bit of a concern,” Sir Alex told MUTV. “He’s gone over on his ankle and we just have to wait and see how he is now.

“I just hope he makes Wednesday because he’s such an important player to us.”

John O’Shea also picked up a knock on Saturday at Craven Cottage. After making way for Richard Eckersley, O’Shea appeared to hobble off down the tunnel clutching his hamstring.

If O’Shea is ruled out of Wednesday’s Champions League Last 16 second leg, Sir Alex may be forced to deploy Darren Fletcher at right-back; Gary Neville, Wes Brown and Rafael da Silva are all nursing injuries.

Wayne Rooney was also substituted on Saturday but Sir Alex confirmed that was purely a precautionary measure. The striker has just returned from a hamstring injury and the manager didn't want to take any chances.

"We need Wayne for Wednesday against Inter Milan," he said.

Michael Carrick says every member of United's burgeoning squad is playing an important part in the Reds' quest for trophies this season.

Carrick was talking after seeing Carlos Tevez produce a goalscoring display on his return to the starting line-up in the FA Cup quarter-final victory at Fulham.

Tevez put the Reds 2-0 up in the first half, before Wayne Rooney and Ji-sung Park added their names to the scoresheet after the break.

Sir Alex has been rotating his first XI to great effect all season and Carrick insists all the players are making an important contribution.

"Everyone gets rotated at some point and the players that have come in have been on top form," he told ITV1 after the game. "Hopefully that will continue because there's a lot of important games coming up.

"Carlos came in and was excellent. His second goal was a great strike and it put us in control of the game. After that it was pretty comfortable for us.

"We created a number of chances and although Wazza missed a bit of an easy chance in the first half, he made up for it later on. And we kept a clean sheet so we're very happy."

Lee Martin's first-half strike gave United's second string a third Reserve derby win of the season over Manchester City on Monday evening.

The flying winger continued his fine recent form with a clinically-taken finish just after the half-hour, rounding City goalkeeper Joe Hart and sliding into the unguarded goal.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer named a side which included four players with first team experience under their belts - Martin, Rodrigo Possebon, Darron Gibson and Zoran Tosic - and it was the Reds who made the early running.

As ever in derby clashes, the game was conducted at a frenetic pace sure to warm up a chilly, saturated evening in Hyde, while clear-cut chances were in scarce supply.

Martin, starting as a striker, had a goal chalked off for offside before striking the telling blow 10 minutes before the interval. Racing onto Tosic's perfectly-weighted pass, he calmly navigated Hart and slotted home.

The Reds had to weather plenty of second-half pressure from the hosts, with David Ball striking the woodwork and Corry Evans clearing off the line from Clayton McDonald, but the Reds held firm for a vital victory.

United will now face Bolton Wanderers in this season's final - a repeat of last year's showpiece triumph at Old Trafford.

Whether he is fit to take the field or spends Wednesday evening in the stands, Rio Ferdinand will be making a contribution as United bid to overcome Internazionale.

The England international is calling on every fan inside Old Trafford to reprise the unforgettable noise which soundtracked last season's epic semi-final win over Barcelona.

"If the supporters can recreate that night against Inter then it’s almost like a 12th man," Rio tells the Inter edition of United Review.

"I remember what it’s like coming here with West Ham and Leeds. Some of the opposing players might not have been to Old Trafford before, and that kind of atmosphere can make a difference.

"The Barca match was one of the best nights of football I’ve been involved in, in terms of atmosphere. The crowd were so loud. The general atmosphere and excitement was unbelievable before, during and after the game. It was fantastic.

"Old Trafford’s a great stadium anyway, with a lot of tradition and history, but when you go out there and the fans are going crazy, you can just see the passion and desire in the stands, willing us on to do well – it’s a real inspiration to us all, definitely."

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo believes the club can clinch their first-ever Quintuple after their Carling Cup win.

Manchester United win the 2009 Carling Cup through penalties after Jamie O'Hara and David Bentley missed their spot kicks.

Following their Carling Cup triumph, the Red Devils have won two trophies this season so far, which includes the Club World Cup. United are currently leading the Premier League by seven points, with title rivals Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool faltering in their challenge so far.

The club are in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and are leading Inter Milan in the Champions League.

Ronaldo explained: "It is quite difficult to achieve but we are going from game to game.

"We always have the opportunity to win everything. We've won this cup and now we don't have much time to celebrate."

Ever the model professional, Ryan Giggs insisted United's focus will not be diluted with two pieces of silverware already won this season.

The Reds added the Carling Cup to the Club World Cup with a penalty shootout over Tottenham, but Giggs was quick to play down talk of an unprecedented five-trophy Quintuple.

"There's a long way to go in all the trophies," the veteran told Sky Sports. "We've just got to keep the same desire, play as well as we have done. We've played better than we did today, but we won so that's what it's all about."

The Welshman did admit, however, that victory at Wembley can prolong the feelgood factor to propel United through the remainder of a congested season.

"It's a cup final so obviously we wanted to win it, and then kick on from there really," said the 35-year-old. "That's what we did with the Club World Cup, so hopefully we can show the same form after winning this."

Sir Alex Ferguson praised his cool, confident and capable players after their prowess at penalties won his third League Cup as United manager.

Spot-kicks seemed inevitable when Cristiano Ronaldo crashed a shot against the post in the final seconds of normal time; tired opponents Tottenham seemed content to play out the extra 30 minutes, bar one attack when Ben Foster saved from Darren Bent with his feet. But Foster's best moment was still to come - stopping Jamie O'Hara's penalty for Spurs.

"Ben Foster made a fantastic first save which gave us a big lift," said Sir Alex. "He's so quick, brave and strong. I think he'll be England's next goalkeeper for many years.

"And while he had a great day, our players took their penalties very confidently."

Appropriately for St David's Day, it was the Welsh wizard Ryan Giggs who converted the first penalty in off the post. It followed his fine extra-time shift in central midfield, as a substitute for young Darron Gibson who had started and completed the 90 minutes.

"We had the experience of Scholes and Ferdinand, and then Giggs in extra-time and they didn't panic," said Sir Alex, assessing the important role of his senior players.

"Vidic also came on and stabilised the team. That's what experienced players do."

Much of the pre-match focus was on the young players to whom Sir Alex had promised a place in the starting line-up - especially Gibson and Danny Welbeck; less so Jonny Evans who, according to the boss, has already "proved himself time and time again."

"When I took Danny off ten minutes into the second half, I said to him, 'You can be proud of your first final.' It will give him the drive and the incentive to play in more," said Sir Alex.

The manager was clearly proud that his policy of playing young players in every round of the Carling Cup had paid off handsomely.

"The end-product you always hope for is to win the competition. It's great for the young players because they've experienced something that young players seldom get the opportunity to do."

While Sir Alex enjoyed collecting his latest trophy - his 24th as Reds boss, even if you exclude his Community Shields - his thoughts are already turning to the next league game, away to Newcastle United on Wednesday night.

"To be honest, I could have done without that extra time and I expect Tottenham will be saying the same because we've both got tough games on Wednesday.

"I'll have to freshen up, obviously, because the league and also the Champions League are still the priorities.

"Newcastle will be a very tough game for us. I love the atmosphere of that ground, they've got great support up there. We'll have to make sure we're ready, energised and fresh for that one."