Rio Ferdinand will be available to face Wanderers on Saturday confirmed manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

The Sun claimed that the centre-half had cracked a rib and as such would miss the Premiership encounter, shedding doubt on his fitness for England's Euro 2008 qualifying match against Israel in just over a week.

Ferguson said that the player had only suffered bruising and would feature at Old Trafford.

The news is positive as Ferguson contemplates a lengthening list of injuries that includes defender Mikael Silvestre and Patrice Evra, while England manager Steve McClaren has a question mark over Ferdinand's central defensive partner John Terry.

Ferguson added that Frenchman Silvestre will make a full recovery despite being out for the rest of the season.

"Mikael is now out for the season, unfortunately," he commented. "We operated on him and it was very successful. He'll make a full recovery."