Berbatov had a slow start to life at Old Trafford.
BLACKBURN: Sir Alex Ferguson is set to give Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov another chance to prove they can form a successful strike partnership when Manchester United make the short trip to Blackburn today.
Berbatov has started every Premier League and Champions League game that he has been fit for since he arrived from Tottenham in a STG30.75 million (TM193.7 million) deal on transfer deadline day.
And with Wayne Rooney a major doubt for the trip to Ewood Park due to an ankle problem, Ferguson is likely to pair the Bulgarian with Tevez.
United have confirmed that Rooney should be available for England’s World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Belarus in the next fortnight but Ferguson will not be taking any chances on his striker’s fitness against Blackburn.
Before scoring twice in the 3-0 Champions League victory over Aalborg in midweek, Berbatov was considered to have had a slow start to life at Old Trafford.
Tevez was his fellow striker in the 2-0 win over Bolton but United needed Cristiano Ronaldo’s harshly-awarded penalty to make the breakthrough before Rooney came on to seal the win.
Berbatov’s brace in Denmark is likely to have taken some of the spotlight away from him.
But many will be keeping a close eye on how he combines with Tevez, who has scored just once in eight appearances so far this season, against Paul Ince’s Blackburn.
Having got off the mark Berbatov is determined to stay among the goals against Rovers and insists he is unconcerned by the heavy expectation being placed on him.
He said: “It was very important for me to score and I’m glad to have done so. Our next game is on Saturday and I hope to score again then.
“My job is to score, or to create goals for other players, but the most important thing is the win for the team.
“The pressure is always there and hopefully I will deal with it with help from my teammates.”
As well as the likelihood he will have to do without Rooney, Ferguson will also have to cope with the absence of Paul Scholes.
The veteran midfielder, 33, is set for 10 weeks on the sidelines after picking up a knee problem in the midweek win in Aalborg.
The injury to Scholes will put further pressure on a United midfield that is already relatively short on options with Michael Carrick facing a month on the sidelines with an ankle injury and continuing concerns about Owen Hargreaves’ knee.
Blackburn’s England goalkeeper Paul Robinson is set to miss out again with a calf injury and his stand-in Jason Brown is determined to take his chance against last season’s double winners.
Having joined Rovers from Gillingham in 2006, Brown made his first league start for the club in the 2-1 win at Newcastle last week.
And he is determined to stay in the side even when Robinson returns to fitness. — AFP
