Manchester United can seal qualification to the knock out rounds of the Champions League tonight with only a point against CSKA Moscow.
Ex-Tottenham manager Juande Ramos was in charge of the reverse fixture a fortnight ago, where United nicked a later winner through Luis Valencia, but has since been replace by Leonid Slutsky, and United boss Ferguson is wary of the threat a new manager can bring.
"You’d imagine the new coach will really want to win this game – obviously to strengthen his position in the job but also to enhance his reputation,” Sir Alex told the media at his pre-match press conference.
"You have to be aware that football can throw clangers into the mix. We don’t want that.”
Sir Alex is also concerned about the Russian side’s desire to win, with them facing a big hurdle domestically if they are to achieve European football again next season.
“I think they have to win their last three league games in order to finish third and be in with a chance of getting into the Champions League again," the United manager said.
"I expect CSKA to play their strongest team because a good result could give them a lot of confidence before their final three league matches.”
Michael Owen is set to lead the line for United with Wayne Rooney missing the clash after birth of his first son yesterday, while Dimitar Berbatov is struggling with a knee injury.
And while Ferguson is missing his first choice strike-partnership he is also without defensive pairing Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic who are still out with calf injuries, meaning that Wes Brown and Jonny Evans will continue in the heart of the United back-line after their strong display against Blackburn on Saturday.
In more bad news for the United boss he is also without Ryan Giggs and Ji-Sung Park, who are both out with knee complaints.
Darren Fletcher provides the only positive in the build-up to the game as the Scot returns from an ankle injury that has kept him out since the start of October.
The visitors have injury concerns of their own as they look for their first win on English soil, with former Liverpool winger Mark Gonzalez, Guilherme and Sekou Oliseh all out with knee and hip injuries respectively.
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