Sir Alex calls on Carlos

Wayne Rooney's injury woe will hand Carlos Tevez an unexpected debut in Wednesday night's trip to Portsmouth.

Hitherto United's only fully-fit striker, Rooney suffered a fractured foot against Reading and is likely to miss the new few weeks.

With Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer back in training, but without any pre-season action, Tevez will start the game at Fratton Park despite his own lack of match-fitness.

"Carlos will start on Wednesday against Portsmouth," confirmed Sir Alex at a press conference to unveil the Argentine. "I would have preferred to wait for the Manchester City - that would have given him a few more days' training.

"But for the forthcoming few weeks, he will fill the position Wayne would have occupied."

The United manager also played down suggestions of a knee-jerk foray into the transfer market to further bolster the Reds' striking department.

"With Wayne as well, we have four strikers so I am not looking at a situation where I have to add to that number," he said.